Erik Madigan Heck

Heck was born in Excelsior, Minnesota. Heck was exposed to art and museums in Minneapolis from an early age by his parents.{{cite news|title=Photographer Erik Madigan Heck Pushes Boundaries|url=http://www.wwd.com/media-news/photographer-erik-madigan-heck-pushes-boundaries-3233627}} He began photographing at the age of 14, after receiving his first camera as a gift from his mother.{{Cite web |url=http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2009/06/interview_erik.php |title=Interview with Erik Madigan Heck of Nomenus Quarterly |access-date=August 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907043949/http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2009/06/interview_erik.php |archive-date=September 7, 2011 |url-status=dead }} In 2002, as a senior in high school, Heck received the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Scholastic Art Awards Gold Medal for his work in photography.{{cite news|title=Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Alumni|url=http://www.artandwriting.org/Alliance/Alumni}} Heck graduated from Salve Regina University with a degree in political science and earned his MFA in photography from Parsons the New School for Design.{{cite news|title=Photographer Erik Madigan Heck Pushes Boundaries|url=http://www.wwd.com/media-news/media-features/photographer-erik-madigan-heck-pushes-boundaries-3233627}}

Erik Madigan Heck moved to New York City where he founded the semi-yearly publication Nomenus Quarterly in 2007. The project was conceived as a collaborative platform working with artists of all mediums within the worlds of fine art and fashion.{{cite news|title=Nomenus Quarterly |url=http://www.nomenusquarterly.com/index_10.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808041503/http://www.nomenusquarterly.com/index_10.html |archivedate=August 8, 2014 }} Nomenus Quarterly was published both online and in print, featuring the work of artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, Rodarte, Ann Demeulemeester, and Heck himself.

Journalist Dan Thawley describes Heck's work as "[having] a dreamlike quality marked by surrealist undertones, an appreciation for fine art conventions, and an exploration of various photographic mediums (both modern and obsolete)".{{cite news|title=DIY Giverny: Erik Madigan Heck|url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/erik-madigan-heck}} Heck works with both analog and digital photography as well as with Super 8 for film shorts.{{cite news|title= Film Talks 23: Erik Madigan Heck|url=http://fotofilmic.com/film-talks-23-erik-madigan-heck-photographer-director-new-york-united-states/}}

Heck identifies himself as a “painter who uses photography,”{{cite news|title=Erik Madigan Heck Interview: Why All Photographers Need to Learn Art History|url=http://blog.photowhoa.com/erik-madigan-heck-interview-why-all-photographers-need-to-learn-art-history/}} and cites the 19th century painter Édouard Vuillard as one of his major influences as well as the work of modern photographer Harry Callahan.{{cite news|title=Art Producers Speak: Erik Madigan Heck|url=http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2013/08/15/art-producers-speak-erik-madigan-heck/}}

Due to Heck's interest in mediums and technologies of the past, his reoccurring use of nature as a theme, as well as his focus on beauty as the ultimate ideal, Heck's work has often been described as a contemporary extension of Romanticism.{{cite news|title=The End is the Beginning for Erik Madigan Heck|url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/the-end-is-the-beginning-for-erik-madison-heck/#_}} Referencing his own work, Heck explains that “...to access beauty is what we ultimately desire, and the tangibility of this access is what in my opinion ultimately differentiates fashion from art as end points on a continuum, and simultaneously elevates fashion photography to such an important place in contemporary society.”A Magazine Curated by Giambattista Valli, Issue #10. 2010. p 150-151

Heck has created advertorial portfolios for brands such as Mary Katrantzou, Kenzo, and Etro.{{cite news|title=Mary Katrantzou Projects|url=http://www.marykatrantzou.com/projects/mary-katrantzou-x-erik-madigan-heck/aw13-cathedrals|access-date=August 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052245/http://www.marykatrantzou.com/projects/mary-katrantzou-x-erik-madigan-heck/aw13-cathedrals|archive-date=August 8, 2014|url-status=dead}}

Heck has shown work internationally. In June 2014, Heck's solo show, "The Absorbed Tradition," was shown at Bosi Contemporary in New York and presented alongside a special new Heck-curated issue of Creem Magazine.{{cite news|title=Print Matters: A Young Photographer's View on Fashion| date=June 3, 2014 |url=http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/photographer-erik-madigan-heck-the-absorbed-tradition-bosi-contemporary-gallery-creem-magazine/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1}} His photographs have also been included in exhibitions such as “Outer Dark: Continuing After Fashion” at the Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt{{cite news|title=Outer Dark: Continuing After Fashion|url=http://www.theblogazine.com/2013/06/outer-dark-continuing-after-fashion/}} and “Don’t Stop Now: Fashion Photography Next” at FOAM Museum Amsterdam.{{cite news|title=Press Release: Don't Stop Now: Fashion Photography Next |url=http://www.foam.org/press/2014/fashion |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808053631/http://www.foam.org/press/2014/fashion |archivedate=August 8, 2014 }}

• 2020: The Garden, Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
• 2018: Old Future, Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
• 2018: Old Future, Nicholas Metivier, Toronto, Canada
• 2018: Erik Madigan Heck, Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, US
• 2017: Old Future, The Weinstein Hammons Gallery, Minneapolis, US

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• [http://www.maisondesprit.com/ Erik Madigan Heck website]

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Category:1983 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Excelsior, Minnesota

Category:American fashion photographers

Category:Artists from Minnesota

Category:Parsons School of Design alumni