Patrick Heagney V. 2

Patrick Heagney is a conceptual photographer who is represented by Kai Lin Art in Atlanta and has exhibited across the United States, especially in Georgia. He has had over half a dozen solo exhibitions with Kai Lin Art to date and other notable exhibitions include Soho Photo Gallery in New York, Museum of Contemporary Art and Ponce City Market in Atlanta, SOZO Gallery in Charlotte, Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Fe Gallery in Pittsburgh, and Red Gallery in Savannah. Patrick has also won almost half a dozen prizes from the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). 

The two series by Patrick Heagney we will be focusing on are Machine Learning and Paper Thin. Machine Learning entails photographs which were taken with a 1999 Gameboy camera. As a result, these works are heavily pixelated and monochromatic reflecting nostalgia towards the early decades of digitization of the 1980s and 1990s. Patrick captures nude models in poses similar to one would find on a magazine cover. These glamorous postures immortalized in pixelation reveal inclinations and commentary on the purpose of digital applications. The series suggests to us to reflect on the impact of digital technology through the use of basic pixelated capturing and representation. Because of the severe grainy texture of these photographs, these figures appear as if they are icons from an Atari video game from the 1980s. 

Paper Thin represents a series of photographs captured of miniature paper set designs and human actors digitally imposed into these sceneries of paper cut-outs. The childlike and innocent nature of the works reflect fantastical connotations, as if the viewer were miniaturized into a seasonal snowglobe. These photographs contain an imaginative world reflective of high production values but with a light touch as if created by a child. The dream-like qualities are further reflected in cartoonishly shaped clouds, hills, trees, and houses assembled together in a theatrical display.

Machine Learning # 2 (pictured above) reveals New Wave and Vapor Wave aesthetics through the depiction of heavily pixelated representation and a hot pink and magenta layout. The figure barely stands recognizable, only indicated by a few pixelated boxes. The shadow on her eyes reflect a deep sense of character and aesthetics through an impression of subtle and few pixels. Machine Learning # 2 can be described as a masterful example of using aging technologies to represent contemporary notions of image-making. 

Patrick Heagney uses unusual and unique techniques to capture figures in states of dreamy, child-like, and fantastical based environments and applications. His photographs appear as if they are the background to a book for youth or a contemporary fantasy novel. These dynamic implications reveal an artist willing to advance photography through means of aging technologies and exaggerated set design through the magic of digital manipulation and process. His approach remains unique and vivid towards our understanding on how photography can advance contemporary discourse and aesthetics.

https://www.patrickheagneystudio.com