Erik Madigan Heck is a master of color and pattern. He is an artist who uses fashion photography as a vehicle for his art and as a point of departure, elevating fashion photography to fine art.
He photographs with a painter’s eye and his vision produces work of rare beauty. With a palette of highly saturated color, he creates flattened figures often combining and overlaying patterns to produce vivid, almost Japanese imagery. The work is always lit by natural light. Frequently the model’s back is to the camera or her face is not visible, drawing attention to the composition, patterns, color and textures.
Another aspect of Erik Madigan Heck’s work is his photographs in nature. We see tiny figures lost in a romantic, ethereal, dreamlike landscape, overwhelmed by the beauty of nature. Heck’s work is original and looks like nothing else, but his inspiration comes from painting; from Vuillard and Degas, to Pop Art, Peter Doig and Gerhard Richter.
Erik Madigan Heck was born in Excelsior, Minnesota in 1983. His work appears in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and Harper’s Bazaar, among other publications. He has been the recipient of many awards including the ICP Infinity Award. He lives and works in Connecticut and New York City.