NEWS
NEW WEBSITE FOR A NEW BEGINNING
heliumcowboy is now MEGA Contemporary.
After over 20 years the heliumcowboy gallery has a new boss: Melvin Wiebigke, son of heliumcowboy founder Jörg Heikhaus (aka Alex Diamond). In 2020 Melvin took over the reigns at the gallery, and in 2024 he changed the name (and concept) and is now running the show as MEGA Contemporary.
You can still browse this site to see what we’ve been up to in the past. Here is an overview of all the shows and fairs that we did until Summer 2024. You can also find all the artists and our podcast here on this page - please check out the navigation links.
This is not the end just a new beginning building on more than two decades of experience.
The new gallery’s locations are still the same:
At Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 87 (formerly The MISSION) and at Bäckerbreitergang 75 (formerly The RANCH).
Any more questions?
Go ask Melvin! about MEGA and all!
Or, if you want to go down memory lane - get in touch with Jörg.
Want to stay up to date? Please subscribe to the new newsletters of:
The MISSION
Our second gallery location!
Since September 2023 we have two gallery locations with a gallery space at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse 87 - just around the corner from The Ranch, our flagship store at Bäckerbreitergang 75. We are occupying both spaces simultaneously.
The new gallery, which we call THE MISSION, is at street level, has a total area of almost 250 sqm on two levels, has a large shop window and high walls, allowing for a different kind of curation and presentation.
Exhibition Locations:
The MISSION
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 87
(Google maps)
The RANCH
Bäckerbreitergang 75, 20355 Hamburg
(Google maps)
Stay up to date:
For updates and the latest program please subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on instagram. To see all our previous exhibitions check “Past Shows”.
Next exhibitions:
Vernissage:
Thursday April 4, 6 – 10 pm
Exhibition until May 2
WLADIMIR TIMLER AND FRIENDS
Vernissage:
Thursday May 16, 6 – 10 pm
Exhibition until June 13
Why do we call it The MISSION?
In the now completely renovated Art Nouveau building on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse, the premises of the association "Die Mission – Artistic Measures Against the Cold" were located until 2003. The association, self-managed, provided warm drinks, food, a warm lounge, and meeting place for the homeless, along with a cultural program. This project originated from an initiative by the director and performance artist Christoph Schlingensief. In 1997, following a performance at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, he, along with the ensemble, occupied a vacated police station near the main train station for seven days under the motto "Passion Impossible – 7 Days Emergency Call for Germany." The action aimed to create a meeting point for extremes, a space where the boundaries between rich and poor blur.
"The Mission" later relocated to Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse, and subsequently to Neustädter-Straße, from where it had to move out last year.
Before heliumcowboy could move into the new gallery spaces at Bäckerbreitergang 75 in 2010, we utilized an approximately 350 sqm area of "Die Mission" as storage, office, and occasionally as an event space for art activities (e.g., "Herr Fischer bittet zu Tisch"). Rumors suggest that in the basement, a secret boxing club led by Jörg Heikhaus existed for several years. However, these rumors are unconfirmed and cannot be verified today.
