Erik Madigan Heck

Aberglasney Gardens, The Garden, 2019From the series ‘The Garden’

Erik Madigan Heck Biography Erik Madigan Heck is an American photographer celebrated for his painterly approach to contemporary fashion photography, blending the traditions of fine art with modern editorial sensibilities. Known for his lush color palettes and intricate compositions, Heck often draws inspiration from painters such as Edgar Degas, Edouard Vuillard, Gustav Klimt, and the bold contrasts of Pop Art. His acclaimed bodies of work, including Old Future, The Garden, and The Tapestry, showcase a unique vision where photography becomes a canvas, merging fashion, portraiture, and nature into timeless images. His work often explores the harmony between human form, fabric, and landscape, creating dreamlike worlds that transcend genre. Born in 1983 in Excelsior, Minnesota, Heck studied at Parsons School of Design in New York before earning his MFA from the School of Visual Arts. His early interest in painting and art history informed the highly compositional and color-driven style that would become his signature approach. Now based between Connecticut and New York City, Heck continues to evolve his practice on photography and painting. Heck has been widely published and exhibited, with his editorial collaborations spanning The New York Times Magazine, TIME, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar UK, and The New Yorker. Commercially, he has created campaigns for Gucci, Van Cleef & Arpels, Thom Browne, Nike, Comme des Garçons, and The Metropolitan Opera, among others. His photobooks include Old Future (2017), The Garden (2019), The Language of Flowers (2021), and The Tapestry (2024). In addition to photography, Heck founded the art publication Nomenus, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations between artists, designers, and institutions. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award, the FOAM Fotografiemuseum Talent Award, Forbes’ 30 Under 30, and the Art Directors Club Gold Medal for his Old Masters Portfolio in The New York Times Magazine. Heck’s work is held in major public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle, Switzerland. His work is also represented in corporate and notable private collections worldwide. Museum exhibitions include solo presentations at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Le Locleand the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow, alongside appearances at Paris Photo, Photo London, and Photo Shanghai. Jackson Fine Art has represented Heck since 2017, presenting two solo exhibitions—Old Future (2018) and The Garden (2021)—and will feature his third solo exhibition at the gallery, The Tapestry (2025), this fall.