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Consolidating my social media and great photos by Jo Fischer

This is one off the photos my friend Jo Fischer shot recently when he visited me in at my farmhouse up north in my own personal #cowboyland … Jo truly is a remarkable photographer.

But I’d like to say something else with this series of images (2 more below) …

I am making some changes to my social media channels, it is just too much to post to AlexDiamond-heliumcowboy-heliumtalk on facebook-instagram-twitter all the f***ing time … that is unhealthy. I think. So I decided to consolidate all this and post mostly on the @heliumcowboy instagram from now on.

Don’t worry, it’s all gonna be there: All the gallery news and artists work, all the new podcasts, my art, my woodworking, my tractor, my public life … so if you don’t already - please follow me on @heliumcowboy⠀

The @alexxxdiamond account on instagram will stay, sure, but it will be a portfolio of my work. Let’s see if my life gets easier. And thank you if you’ve read all the way down to here.

First "Daily Drawings"-Fanzine released

Here it is - the first volume of my Daily Drawings project. I want to print a fanzine every 50 drawings. They are limited, and you can pick them up at the heliumcowboy gallery or order them online here on this page.

"The Daily Drawings of Alex Diamond"
Volume I (drawings 1 - 50)

15 x 15 cm, 28 pages (120 g/m3 offset)
Edition of 250

signed

New label for Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei

Always happy like a little child on Christmas when I hold one of the beers by Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei with a new label created by me in my hands! The latest one is for FOFFTEIN, a blonde Ale that Oliver Wesseloh created jointly with Dominik Großefeld, the owner of the legendary St. Pauli bar Silbersack as their house brew.

It is the most-Hamburg-related label I created for Kehrwieder so far, and I am superhappy with the result. And the beer is super nice as well, as always with the beers that master brewer and beer artist Oliver produces!

Enjoy responsibly!

Hands and carburetor by my buddy Mario Kleinschmidt / Kleinschmidt Kustoms.

Daily Drawings | Meditations on Paper

A project to calm me down and to reset my hyper active days. Instead of meditating I stop everything I do, (literally) disconnect myself and get my mind free for a little bit of time (almost) every day by taking up pencil and paper for a short time. The result are these little drawings, all 19 x 18.5 cm in size.

And the best part: they are all for sale here - way below my usual price range. Because once they are done, I want to let them go: check my little online store for available pieces here.

T-SHIRT FOR FC ST PAULI FANS TORONTO

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I am very excited to announce the launch of a new T-shirt - I believe the first one I made in 8 years or so. And what a special one: This T-shirt marks the official launch of the 'Hamburg Chapter' of FC St. Pauli Toronto Fans, a Canadian Fanclub of the FS St. Pauli.
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Why oh why? Well, it is a longer story, It began with Melvin living in Toronto for a while back in 2016. He wanted to watch the games of our team, so he found the Fanclub run by Mark & Mari Palmer, and they watched the matches together at a bar with a bunch of other Sankt Pauli fans. When I visited my son in Toronto I also was infected by the friendliness and hospitality of these wonderful Canadian supporters, and after a while we planned to launch an informal Chapter of the club in Hamburg. Just because we can and because it embraces the barrier- and border-free mentality of St. Pauli Fans. More about this on their website.

Now, we'll launch this Chapter. And I made this T-shirt for it. And it can be pre-ordered now in the heliumcowboy online-store.

A portion of the sales will go towards a children’s art project we are launching this year together with charity Clubkinder e.V. from Hamburg. Neither the artist nor the gallery will make any profit from this product.

Artist Statement

The very typical Alex Diamond-characters that organically embrace the skull and the wording are a symbol for the friendship and connection amongst Sankt Pauli supporters wherever you are in the world. These characters are a part of my artwork for at least as long as my 20-year long membership with the FCSP, and choosing to include the political and social statement that was also on the first T-shirt I was given by Mark Palmer, the founder of the Toronto Fanclub in Canada 2019 was highly important to me - now more than ever in these troubled times.

I know that a T-shirt or a sticker will not make the world a better place, but it can spread the word and show our resistance, and you cannot repeat enough that this world is no place for homophobia, fascism, sexism, racism or hate. Not now, nor ever.

New logo for my heliumtalk podcast

Bam, here it is - the new logo / icon for my podcast heliumTALK. Yes it's an original woodcut (tweaked a bit in photoshop) and yes it's not shiny-designy but very much Alex Diamond. 💪

The first podcast of 2019 launches Tuesday, January 15 (Tuesday will be my regular launch date from now on). For that one I spoke with Charlotte Gaitzch & Franziska Storch from Saloon Hamburg.

I am also currently producing my recording with Michael Hein (Millernton) and will be launching part 3 of mny conversation with Jonathan LeVine (Jonathan LeVine Projects) Tuesday, January 22nd.

To listen to the previous episodes of my podcast visit www.heliumtalk.com, but ideally subscribe to heliumtalk on iTunes, Spotify, etc. ... if you don't have it already, get a good app on your mobile device for all your podcasts.

iTunes | Spotify

Kind, gentle and fully dressed | Vernissage Photos

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Below are the photos from the opening of my exhibition “Kind, gentle and fully dressed” by the wonderful Julia Schwendner / ThisIsJulia Photography. Once again she managed to capture the beautiful spirit of that night so well!

And what a wonderful and very special place this version of the heliumcowboy artspace is! And not just to me. Not sure of there are many galleries with this atmosphere. Thank you to everyone who visited this show or one of the openings this year.

The exhibition is on display until January 20, 2019. If you wish to visit, please drop me a note or contact the gallery. And of course Follow me on instagram, I’ll post all valuable info and opening times there too.

The exhibited work can be seen on Artsy. Exhibition views are here on this site.

There is a (german language) podcast out where I talk with Andreas O. Loff about the new work and the exhibition, you can find it here:

heliumtalk.com | Spotify | iTunes / Apple Podcast

Kind, gentle and fully dressed | Exhibition photos

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Wow. The show is open. On Saturday, Nov 24 we had a tremendously wonderful Vernissage!! I couldn’t have wished for a better night for this! THANK YOU!

Below are some installation photos from the complete show. Hope you like them! They are also on my facebook, if you are still using that. There are some words about the exhibited work series here.

The exhibition is on display at the heliumcowboy artspace until January 20, 2019. If you wish to visit, please drop me a note or contact the gallery. And of course Follow me on instagram, I’ll post all valuable info and opening times there too.

There is a (german language) podcast out where I talk with Andreas O. Loff about the new work and the exhibition, you can find it here:

heliumtalk.com | Spotify | iTunes / Apple Podcast

KIND, GENTLE AND FULLY DRESSED | Solo-Exhibition opening Nov 24

November 24 - January 20, 2018:
KIND, GENTLE AND FULLY DRESSED
Solo-Exhibition at heliumcowboy, Hamburg

Vernissage Saturday, November 24, 7–11 pm

Follow me on instagram to see updates from the work in progress towards this exhibition

There is a (german language) podcast out where I talk with Andreas O. Loff about the new work and the exhibition, you can find it here:

heliumtalk.com | Spotify | iTunes / Apple Podcast

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

For „Kind, gentle and fully dressed“ Alex Diamond (Jörg Heikhaus) retreated into the solitude of the rural north and produced a very personal new series of work. He looked at our society from the distance to the restlessness of the City, our social-media driven cohabitation and the oversaturation of our daily life. The artworks – a mix of woodcut and painting - were created intuitively and dynamic in a spontaneous process.

This series consists of flat wooden boards instead of the layered, stage-like constructions of Alex Diamond’s major work of the past years. The results are unique woodcuts that are abstract, graphic and figurative at the same time, interspersed with quotes and text fragments from music and film.

At first glance these new artworks seem to account for the assumed lightness of the impulsive work process in the studio. Their stories unfold when taking a closer look, when following the numberless cuts into wood – in some works amounting to thousands of carvings – and when putting the text fragments into context with current events. Doing so you can discover the intensity and complexity of the paintings and their subjects.

There is an underlying political and social discomfort in this new oeuvre, like in most of the work of Alex Diamond. As an artist he takes responsibility and comments through his medium and craft and in his very own, intimate way. There is anger, rage even, but also hope and encouragement. This depth in regard to the content however isn’t pushed into the aesthetic and thus visible foreground, but develops more like a good song, by engaging into melody and rhythm, harmony and disharmony, lyrics and voice.

ABOUT ALEX DIAMOND

‚Alex Diamond‘ was initiated as a stand-alone art project by Jörg Heikhaus in 2004. Although it outlived its original intent around 2009/10, it has become Jörg‘s stage name as an artist since.

Essentially being a determined and straightforward storyteller, most of his artwork can be seen as an exploration of contemporary culture and its recurring social recognition patterns, with strong references to popular content and aesthetics.

Jörg has been an exhibiting artist since 1987. He founded the heliumcowboy gallery in 2002 as a unique place to show and experience art. Today he spends most of his time creating his complex woodwork in Today he spends most of his time creating his complex woodwork in one of his studios - one he built from vintage wood inside the exhibition space, another one that lies in the remote countryside. He also runs the podcast „heliumTALK“.

IMAGES FROM ‘THE WORK IN PROGRESS’

heliumTALK Podcast

From the recording of heliumTALK #19 with Barbara Lüdde.

Just figured out that I hardly ever post my heliumTALK podcasts on my own website ;)

But I’ve done a ton of them since I started in Feburary this year, both german and english language versions. You find them all over at heliumtalk.com or on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, whatever’s your prefered tool to listen, it’s on there.

And if you don’t want to miss one, I’d be happy if you’d subscribe. You can also follow my instagram, because that is where I post news directly and quicker.

The Love Me Or Die - Launch delayed by authorities

Unfortunately there is no really satisfying update on the delay of the launch of our 2018 artist beer edition "The Love Me Or Die". This years' collaboration brew with Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei is still on hold at the german authorities, bureaucracy ist preventing us from selling it until we get the necessary okay on the paperwork back.

We are very sad about this, not just because this is a passion project of master brewer Oliver Wesseloh & Alex Diamond that took a very long time to realize, but also because this is a more or less uncommercial project that only costs us money as long as we can't move the product. You can pre-order the beer boxes by mail, but that is all we can offer at the moment (please send a note to info@heliumcowboy.com if you are interested).

Please stay with us, we'll let you know once the beer is going to market. It will at some point, but until then we still have to haggle with the - hold your breath, english speaking friends - "Behörde für Gesundheit und Verbraucherschutz Hamburg, Fachbereich Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelsicherheit" ...

The Love Me Or Die - Launch on September 14

The launch of my latest artist beer with Oliver Wesseloh / Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei draws nearer. While the beer still needs to be labeled, the limited edition Screen Print just arrived from Berlin's finest printer, Dolly Demoratti (motherdrucker.de). It looks AMAZING!

On September 14 we will officially launch "The Love Me Or Die" with a "Beernissage" at the heliumcowboy gallery. This event takes place during the Drunter & Drüber - Neustadt-Festival 2018 on September 14, 2018, from 4–9 pm.

This is the unique first chance to taste the beer and get the limited edition beer box including six 0,33l bottles of "The Love Me Or Die" Spiced Triple and the 8-color silk screen print of the original label artwork that's ONLY available in this box. The edition is limited to 100 boxes/prints.

Here's a link to the facebook invitation with more info.

Coming soon: The Love Me Or Die - new limited edition artist beer!

Here's a little sneak peek, a little glimpse at the creation of the label and print artwork for the soon to be released "The Love Me Or Die", the 2nd limited edition artist beer I recently brewed up together with my man Oliver Wesseloh, head honcho at Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei in Hamburg ... stay tuned!

PS: The beer will be released in a limited edition of 100 six-bottle-boxes including an 8-color silk screen print of the artwork ... printed again by the wonderful Dolly Demorrati / Motherdrucker Berlin. A bunch of single bottles will be available too.

PPS: The beer edition will be launched Friday September 14, 4–9 pm, at the heliumcowboy gallery.

PPS: The name of the beer 'The Love Me Or Die' is the title of a song by C.W. Stoneking that was part of the inspiration for this brew and the artwork. Listen to the man! He is incredible!

PPS: Yes there is already a larger and pretty complex woodwork of mine with the same title - it was part of an exhibition last year and already showed my obsession with the story of this particular song. The label artwork is basically the same, only not carved, and flat, and with more skulls … (here's more about the original artwork).

It's Really Just Another Love Story

This work is inspired by the 1958 Sci-Fi movie "The Attack of The 50ft Woman". It is a story about greed and fear and betrayal and passion that ends in chaos and murder and ... well, it is just onother love story really. Check out the trailer on youtube, it is a great movie and you can see a lot of the elements that made it into my artwork.

A little bit of background: Every day on my way to the studio I drive my bike past a shop in Hamburg called "Andere Welten" (Other Worlds). We used to live above that place and it is one of these rare gems of real -life stores that are full of passion and dedication. If you are into Science Fiction or Fantasy, this is the place to go when in Hamburg ...

Anyway, I ride past this shop daily and for a very long time now they have the poster of this movie in their window. And after working on my new series "The Freedom Paintings" earlier, the idea forms in my head to recreate a billboard from the 50ies applying the trashy and slightly abstract style used in those. It is not just a tribute to the movie, it is a tribute to movie making in general, and to a lot of the things I mentioned earlier, and of course a comment on our times, and and and.

I am very happy that this piece found a new home with a lovely couple in California , where it kind of belongs.

heliumTALK Podcast with Rune Christensen, documented by Julia Schwendner

Photo documentation of my heliumTALK podcast number 10 with my friend and fellow artist Rune Christensen by Julia Schwendne / ThisIsJulia Photography.

Can't believe this is already number 10. I am switching between german and english language episodes, this one is the third we talk english.

The podcast is online on Spotify, iTunes, at www.heliumtalk.com etc.

The Freedom Paintings

Inspired by the music of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis and blending it with country and punk in my head (and on the record player at the studio) it is a sweet little in-between group of works that merges my past as a painter with my woodcutting techniques of today.

Please check available work of this series at artsy or through heliumcowboy.