Robert Heinecken
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles, CA

This long overdue survey, "Robert Heinecken, Photographist: A Thirty-Five-Year Retrospective" was a tour-de-force for this seminal figure who consistently tests the boundaries of photo-based, media-driven imagery. The term "photographist" was coined by the scholar Arthur C. Danto who stated that a "photographist can simply be an artist who uses photographs."

This influential, former UCLA teacher, returns home with this exhibition. It was observed that the show's comment book was filled with wonderful, descriptions from many past students. Many of the works were vividly remembered from 1970s NYC exhibitions and still packed quite a whallop. Perceived as difficult, offensive to some, today his imagery appears more prescient than ever. The retrospective was organized and curated by Lynne Warren, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and shown at LACMA, Winter 2000.

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