Tom Huck
{{Short description|Printmaker}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Tom Huck
| image = Tom Huck at SXSW 2025.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Huck at SXSW 2025
| birth_name = Thomas Andrew Huck
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|12|9}}
| birth_place = Farmington, Missouri, USA
| death_date =
| death_place =
| spouse =
| field =
| training = Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Washington University in St. Louis,
| movement = Outlaw Printmakers
| works =
| patrons =
| awards = Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant 2011
| elected =
| website = www.evilprints.com
| bgcolour =
}}
Tom Huck, a.k.a. Hück or Tom Hück (born 1971), is an American artist best known for his large-scale satirical imagery that lampoons contemporary rural Midwestern culture. His technique and style has been distilled through study and response to centuries of Western Art History, particularly Northern European woodcuts. As described in the journal Art in Print, Huck's "elaborate compositions roil with bawdy images of sex, gluttony and violence, delivered in intricately-carved woodcuts of monumental scale that reference his art historical heroes: printmakers from Master ES to Max Beckmann.".{{cite journal |last=Hanley |first= Sarah Kirk |date=2017 |title=Tom Huck, Electric Baloneyland |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26495683 |journal= Art in Print |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=11–12|jstor= 26495683 }} His process is laborious and intricate; some of his works have required years to complete. Throughout his career, Huck has remained independent, finding critical and financial success on his own terms. He works from his "Spiderhole Studio/[https://www.evilprints.com/ Evil Prints] workshop in the Saint Louis, Missouri area, with a separate gallery downtown called Grafik House. He encourages other artists to attain woodcut mastery through his yearly woodcut "bootcamps" held at the workshop.
Work
File:Printmaker Tom Huck at work on a block in the studio (2016).jpg
Hück is best known for creating large-scale woodcuts acting as both satirical narratives and social criticism.{{cite news|last=Owing|first=Jes|title=Tom Huck at the Sherry Leedy Contemporary Artr|newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=January 5, 2006}} In his own words, "My work deals with personal observations about the experiences of living in a small town in southeast Missouri. The often strange and humorous occurrences, places, and people in these towns offer a never-ending source of inspiration for my prints. I call this work 'rural satire'".{{cite web|last=Huck|first=Tom|title=Artist's Statement|url=http://www.kqfineart.com/represented/huck/index.html|accessdate=May 18, 2011}}
In an inversion of the standard commercial route to success, Hück began his career by going from door to door showing his work to museum curators. His first major sale was to the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University in 1998,{{cite book | last = Kessler | first = Greg| title = Tom Hück : the Devil is in the Details, Prints 1995-2020
| publisher = Fine Print Small Press | date = 2022| location = St. Louis, MO| pages = 35–37| language = en | url = https://www.fineprintsmallpress.com/home/p/tom-huck-the-devil-is-in-the-details| isbn = 9798986827407}} a copy of his first major portfolio: [https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/person/19399 2 Weeks in August: 14 Rural Absurdities] (1995-1998). He followed this with [https://davidkrutprojects.com/exhibitions/51267/tom-huck-the-bloody-bucket-series The Bloody Bucket] (1999-2005). He then created a suite of monumental works collectively called Booger Stew. The first of these, "The Transformation of Brandy Baghead Pts. 1, 2, & 3", is a triptych and was completed in 2009. Since then, two more pieces in the series have been completed, The Tommy Peeperz (2009-2013) and Electric Baloneyland (2013-2018).{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Daniel |date=February 2, 2023 |title=How Tom Huck Paired a Depraved Imagination and Medieval Technique to Make Magic |url=https://www.riverfronttimes.com/arts/how-tom-huck-paired-a-depraved-imagination-and-medieval-technique-to-make-magic-39388013 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=Riverfront Times}}{{cite book |last1=Kessler|title=Tom Huck: The Devil is in the Details |date=2022|page=183}}{{Cite web |title=Flatbed Press |date=4 February 2019 |url=https://flatbed-press.myshopify.com/blogs/news/tom-huck-and-his-electric-baloneyland |access-date=January 26, 2024}}{{Cite web |title=Booger Stew: The Monumental Triptychs of Tom Huck (I–III) |url=http://cgboerner.com/booger-stew-the-monumental-triptychs-of-tom-huck-i-iii/ |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=C.G. Boerner}} While working on these large prints, Hück has produced smaller works, such as the portfolio titled The Hillbilly Kama Sutra (2012), and the chiaroscuro woodcut The Great Warmadillo.{{Cite web |date=February 11, 2019 |title=Rival Cuts: Process and Technique in Prints by Tom Huck and Albrecht Durer |url=https://www.printed-editions.com/gallery-exhibition/rival-cuts-process-and-technique-in-prints-by-tom-huck-and-albrecht-durer/ |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=Printed Editions}}File:Electric Baloneyland.jpg
Hück’s latest work, A Monkey Mountain Kronikle: A Devotional Woodcut for the Ages, is a medieval altarpiece on paper, inspired by famous altarpieces by Jan van Eyck and other Flemish painters of the late Middle Ages.{{Cite web |title=The Gallery |url=https://lordaporkalyptus.com/about |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=A Monkey Mountain Kronikle}}
Aside from these major works, Hück has created several works smaller in scale and has also been invited to work in collaboration with other workshops, including Landfall Press and Lawrence Lithography, who have published his editions.
As an illustrator, he has designed logos, posters, and apparel for musicians and organizations, such as album covers, posters, t-shirts, and ephemera. In 2002 he designed the cover of The Roots' album Phrenology,{{Cite book |last=Kessler |first=Greg |title=Tom Huck: The Devil is in the Details, Prints 1995-2020 |publisher=Fine Print Small Press |year=2022 |isbn=9798986827407 |edition=1st |location=St. Louis, MO USA |publication-date=2022 |pages=294 |language=English}} and in 2009 he designed the poster for the band Motörhead and their show at The Pageant in St. Louis. Hück’s illustrations have appeared in BLAB! from Fantagraphics Books as well as The Village Voice, The Riverfront Times, and the Minneapolis City Pages.
Biography
Tom Huck was born on December 9, 1971, in Farmington, Missouri, and grew up in nearby Potosi. He received a BFA in drawing from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1993 and an MFA in printmaking from Washington University in 1995. From 2000 to 2010 he was an instructor in printmaking at Washington University.{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Tom Huck 2008 |url=https://www.matrixpress.org/tom-huck.html |access-date=January 5, 2024 |website=Matrix Press}} From 1999 to 2020 Hück's studio, Evil Prints, was located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. In 2020 he moved Evil Prints to Park Hills, Missouri.{{Cite web |date=January 26, 2024 |title=Evil Prints and Spiderhole Studios |url=https://www.evilprints.com/evil-spiderhole |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=Tom Huck's Evil Prints}}
Style and influences
Hück draws his influences mainly from Northern Renaissance masters, such as Albrecht Dürer whom he cites as a "print hero".{{cite journal |last=Froeb |first=Ian |date=17 January 2007 |title=Evil Ink |journal=River Front Times |volume=31 |issue=3}} Other influences include José Guadalupe Posada, Honoré Daumier, and Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes.
Huck's work is also known for his delicate and intricate method of carving and use of cross-hatching in the print medium. It has been described as having "a real delicacy of touch" and "an extraordinary landscape of marks".{{cite journal |last=Gibson |first=Allison |year=2009 |title=Tom Huck |journal=Beautiful Decay |volume=Book 2 |issue=What A Mess! |pages=116–130}}
Collections
Hück's woodcut prints are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art;{{Cite web |title=A Monkey Mountain Kronikle |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/871803 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=The Met}} Whitney Museum of American Art;{{Cite web |date=January 26, 2024 |title=Thomas Huck 1971– |url=https://whitney.org/artists/7689 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=Whitney Museum of Art}} the Library of Congress;{{Cite web |title=The great war-madillo (for A.D.) / T. Huck. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2017651400/ |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}} the Fogg Museum, Harvard University;{{Cite web |title=2 Week in August / Thomas Huck|url=https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/person/19399 |website=Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA}} Museum of Fine Arts, Houston;{{Cite web |title=Tom Hück |url=https://emuseum.mfah.org/people/42884/tom-huck/objects |website=The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 77005 USA}} The Art Institute of Chicago;{{Cite web |title=Tom Huck |url=https://www.artic.edu/artists/99209/tom-huck |website=Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60603 USA|date=1971 }} Lambert International Airport;{{Cite web |last=Keaggy |first=Diane |date=December 7, 2012 |title=Lambert Airport introduces local art to its concourses |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/lambert-airport-introduces-local-art-to-its-concourses/article_da1fb997-7cef-5f8b-8ef9-88ad3ca51d80.html |access-date=January 5, 2024 |website=Saint Louis Post Dispatch}} Saint Louis Art Museum;{{Cite web |title=Bed of Bones, from the portfolio "2 Weeks in August: 14 Rural Absurdities" |url=https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/38877/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=Saint Louis Art Museum |language=en-US}} and Laumeier Sculpture Park,{{Cite web |title=Tom Huck |url=https://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org/tom-huck |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=Laumeier Sculpture Park |language=en-US}} among others.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.evilprints.com Evil Prints Official Site]
- [http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/heavy-metal-meets-hieronymus-bosch-regarding-dark-funny-and-highly-detailed-prints-tom-huck/ "Heavy Metal Meets Heironymous Bosch-NPR Interview 2016"]
- [http://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org/tom-huck/"Tom Huck's "Bugs" at Laumeier Sculpture Park"]
- [http://www.sluconnection.com/2011/02/18/sluma-presents-tom-huck-brutal-truth/ "Brutal Truth" exhibition at SLUMA, 2011.]
- [http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2009-09-16/culture/tom-huck-rebellious-tradition-printmaking/ "Tom Huck and the Rebellions Tradition of Printmaking", River Front Times, Sept. 19th, 2009]
- [http://www.stlmag.com/St-Louis-Magazine/April-2011/First-Stop-Tom-Huck-at-SLUMA/ Interview with St. Louis Magazine "First Stop: Tom Huck at SLUMA"]
- [http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/article_1555d672-5ee0-5e6e-8d70-2bb7e9910973.html Review of "Tom Huck and the Rebellious Tradition of Printmaking"]
- [https://www.slam.org/press/collection-of-ted-and-maryanne-simmons-strengthens-the-saint-louis-art-museums-postwar-holdings-with-833-works/ Collection of Ted and Maryanne Simmons strengthens the Saint Louis Art Museum’s postwar holdings with 833 works]
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Category:Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni
Category:American illustrators
Category:People from Farmington, Missouri
Category:People from Potosi, Missouri