Erik Madigan Heck is now a 29 year-old New York based artist, but he began his photography career at the age of 14 in Minnesota. He credits an early exposure by his parents to art and museums as to what kickstarted his career at such a ripe young age. We think this fine arts influence is evident in all his work, but especially in his collaborations with clothing designer Mary Katrantzou.
Mary Katrantzou was born in Athens, Greece but came to the United States in 2003 to study architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. She now lives in London and has shifted her focus from prints for interiors to prints for clothing. Her signature style is centered around tromp l’oeil fabrics. She has focused previous collections around artisan blown glass, eighteenth century society paintings, and perfume bottles, all while keeping the printed image central to her aesthetic.
Erik Madgian Heck and Mary Katrantzou have come together for three shoots so far, all with a heavy dose of the surreal and the sublime. Katrantzou’s clothing is undeniably beautiful and along with Heck’s unorthodox approach to photography, their collaborations have the viewer entering a truly dreamlike and bizarre world, one that’s filled with color and fantasy.
Their first shoot was inspired by the interior paintings of late 19th century French painters Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard. Their second and third joint efforts were inspired by early Parisian Surrealist paintings, Catholic iconography, and Greek mythology.
Room Number 7: The Polaroids
Jon Contino
