Robert Heinecken's semiotic inquiry into posing and code
Robert Heinecken's cult book on models posing for (mail order) catalogs. A fundamentally ironic semiotic study of poses, facial expressions as dictated by the 1970s and 80s mainstream commercial media.
Heinecken made all photographs using the SX-70; rephotographing pictures from mail-order catalogs. The text is written in such a way as to identify these pictures as serious social documents or politically relevant documents.
Lessons in Posing Subjects, the book
Robert Heinecken, Lessons in Posing Subjects. Brussels: Wiels and Triangle Books, 2014. Spiral-bound, 56 pp. 34 0 x 25,0 cm. Text by Devrim Bayar, 'Robert Heinecken. Lessons in Commercial Realism.' Edition of 1000.
Published to accompany a traveling show in 2014-2015. Wiels, Brussels (May 16 - August 17, 2014 ; Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool (November 7, 2014 January 11, 2015 ; Fri Art, Kunsthalle Fribourg (February 26 - May 3, 2015).
A fine copy of this rare and collectible book. Like new, in mylar envelope.
Robert Heinecken, para-photographer
Robert Heinecken (1931-2006) described himself as a para-photographer because he rarely made use of a camera. Instead, he used material from magazines, advertising, and other media to make his collages. An exception to that practice, however, is Lessons in Posing Subjects, shot between 1976 and 1982 with a Polaroid SX-70.
For Lessons in Posing Subjects, Heinecken made a whole series of polaroid pictures from mainstream fashion catalogs. is a kind of semiotic inquiry into posing.
Robert Heinecken, a dark precursor of Appropration Art
Heinecken, who founded the photography program at the University of California, Los Angeles, played a significant role in the evolution of conceptual photography. He is regarded as a precursor of the Pictures Generation—the movement of artists in the 1970s and 1980s, including Sherrie Levine, Richard Prince, and Cindy Sherman, who appropriated imagery from popular culture for their work.
Heinecken's techniques included photograms, collage, and experimentation with found imagery. He often challenged societal norms and explored themes of consumerism, sexuality, and the media's influence on culture.