Artist: Erik Madigan Heck

Christophe Guye Galerie presents the third solo exhibition “The Tapestry” by Erik Madigan Heck (*1983, United States) at the gallery. On display is a selection of works, most of them from his latest monograph “The Tapestry”, published by Thames & Hudson in late 2024.

“The Tapestry” is both an exploration of color and form as well as a dazzling artistic statement and a unique retrospective – one that came at a time of great professional and personal uncertainty for the artist. Tirelessly creative, Heck used the enforced pause in his life against the backdrop of the global pandemic as a contemplative space to review a decade of his work as a photographer and artist. This selection serves as a meditative exploration of Heck's unique fusion of photography and painting, characterized by a bold embrace of natural light, resulting in a stunning array of unapologetically beautiful and vividly colorful images.

“Old tapestries and figurative oil paintings provide me with a huge source of inspiration, and pushed me beyond photography into other artistic media. Most of my favourite artists paint from photographs, and I realized this whole time I’ve tried to do the opposite – make paintings out of photographs. So, for some of these works, I wanted to explore that idea in greater depth, through photographing details of historic paintings, re–colouring them, printing the results on canvas, and painting over them. I’m still tethered to photography, but this is an attempt to move beyond just photography.”

– Erik Madigan Heck

The exhibition features 20 photographs and one painting.

Originally from Excelsior, Minnesota, Erik Madigan Heck is one of the youngest and most promising American fashion photographers on the contemporary art scene. In his relatively young career, the artist has developed a personal perspective on fashion, as Nathalie Herschdorfer emphasizes in her essay “Minimal and pure: Erik Madigan Heck fashion photos”. His work is characterized by a clear and unmistakable use of colors and shapes, which makes his oeuvre unique.

“Heck explores new boundaries with his photography and creates images that go beyond traditional fashion photography. Carefully constructed and enhanced with vibrant colors, blurring the boundaries between clothing and background, his paintings play with this idea of future silhouettes.” - Nathalie Herschdorfer, Director Photo Elysée

Erik Madigan Heck has received the prestigious ICP Infinity Award, the FOAM Photography Museum Talent Award, Forbes' 30 Under 30 Award and The Art Director's Club Gold Medal, as well as the AI–IP American Photography Award for his Old Masters Portfolio published by The New York Times Magazine. In 2019, Heck had solo exhibitions at the Musée des Beaux– Art in Le Locle, Switzerland and public installations at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, at Paris Photo, Photo London and Photo Shanghai; and he relaunched Nomenus – a printed magazine focusing on the intersection between photography and painting, in which he collaborates with a number of artists and institutions.