„They all must be slaughtered“ was my last show at heliumcowboy.
This was not an easy decision, especially since I enjoyed working so closely with Melvin, but we both have the feeling that my connection to heliumcowboy has become an obstacle not easily overcome and therefore is counterproductive for Melvin and his progression as an independent gallerist.
Remember: I handed the keys and all responsibility over to (my son) Melvin in 2020, when I wanted to close heliumcowboy for good. There were several reasons, but the main one was that I did not want to be „also-a-gallerist“ one minute longer.
Here is some background:
heliumcowboy was never meant to be such a big venture when it started. It all began in my tiny art studio in St. Pauli with first exhibitions of other talent in 2002.
But then it became so incredibly successful in a very short time and turned into one of the most influential galleries of the first decade of the 2000’s. Crazy! I had an amazing team and we did good work here on the Ranch (and around the world) - it was a lot of fun!
Already back then though I had plans to pass the captaincy of heliumcowboy on to my manager Isabel, but the financial crisis hit us hard and made this impossible. So I continued for another ten years in which I juggled both, working on my own art and representing international artists, exhibiting them in the new space in Hamburg and on art fairs abroad etc. At a reduced pace, yes, but still. Tough work, that became more and more difficult to combine with my own art practice.
I was relieved when I mentioned my exit plan to Melvin four years ago and he immediately embraced the opportunity to become the sole and independent curator and gallerist of heliumcowboy.
He had already worked several years at the gallery, first as an assistant and since 2019 as its manager. He was and still is the right (and most likely only) choice to take this place over.
However … no matter how small my influence and presence may have been in reality these past years, and no matter how autonomous Melvin runs this place - we both feel he needs more space.
Believe me, figuring this out was a painful process.
But I get it. I do.
The bitter truth is hard to grasp sometimes, that is why it took me so long to make this decision to permanently walk away from heliumcowboy. Melvin will of course continue to do his great work, he also has some plans that will change his … scenario even more.
But it is not my place to tell you about it. You’ll see and hear more from him soon enough...
Don’t worry about me (if you do at all), I have things to look forward to in the future, there is already a project with another gallery from Hamburg under way (more soon), I have shows in Denmark and the US on the horizon, there are talks with new galleries and most of all: I will never stop doing my art. There is no alternative.
Being an artist also means being free from most restraints of other professions, and maybe I just got a bit more freedom back now.
So, yeah:
It’s all good.
And I’ll see you around.
P.S.:The history of heliumcowboy is well documented here: heliumcowboy.com/past-shows
