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Visual History:
Joseph Heidecker
Joseph Heidecker is a celebrated contemporary artist who cleverly embellishes vintage photographs salvaged from estate sales and flea markets with antique beading and threading. His work can be found in the collections of Brad Pitt, Benecio Del Toro and Cindy Sherman, among others.
Vintage Clown Photograph, 1999
A sometime antique dealer, Heidecker has long collected objects at flea markets and estate sales, especially vintage photographs. He found this surreal snapshot at the Chelsea Flea Market.
Gallery Window, Washington Square East, 2000
Heidecker's first solo show, at the Washington Square East Gallery in New York City, displayed some 150 cabinet cards from the turn of the century, which he had hand-manipulated with stitching, drawing and other embellishments. "This show concretely established the direction I would move in," he says.
Silver String on Vintage Photo, 2010
A few years ago, a friend gave Heidecker a collection of vintage photographs of hair models. Heidecker embellished them with silver string. He named this group of pieces the National Beauty Series.
Beading on Vintage Illustration of Bat, 2011
Heidecker works with beading as well as thread. Here, he embellished the wing of a bat on a reprinted vintage illustration as part of a collection he called the Beaded Animal Series.