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“.
