s3e13 Tom Hück, artist (an update)

In a Platemark first we speak with a previous guest for a special update. Artist Tom Hück agreed to talk to hosts Ann Shafer and Tru Ludwig at his Evil Prints studio in Park Hills, Missouri, in August 2022. Hück is releasing his latest print edition on Thanksgiving Day, a rumination on American gluttony called Monkey Mountain Kronikle. Created over a number of years, Monkey Mountain Kronikle is a large-scale, double-sided woodcut triptych that opens and closes like a traditional altarpiece. It stars Lord Aporkalyptus and his bevy of brides. Dubbed a “devotional woodcut for the ages,” the triptych is full of details about gluttony in terms of sports, politics, and of course, fast food.

Co-published by Evil Prints and Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen, Scotland, Monkey Mountain Kronikle is epic, biting, sarcastic, funny, and would make Hück’s hero Albrecht Dürer proud. Hück has had a seriously busy fall. In addition to finishing the edition, his work was featured in last summer's Saint Louis Art Museum’s exhibition Catching the Moment, and a lavish book on Hück’s output (1995-2020) has just been published by Fine Print Small Press (fineprintsmallpress.com).

In our interview, Hück talks about the new project and a host of other things. Ann knew very well that the first face-to-face meeting of Tru and Hück would be monumental. Platemark listeners can imagine that they would have lots to talk about. Ann simply wound them up and let them go.

Here are some useful links:

www.lordaporkalyptus.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOnISzYOniY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x5jmAQEXb4

http://www.evilprints.com/about

https://www.instagram.com/evilprints/

Episode image: selfie by Ann Shafer with Tru Ludwig, and Tom Hück, Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, August 2022.

Critical to any studio visit: coffee. Tru Ludwig gratefully accepts a cuppa from Tom Hück, Evil Prints, Park Hills, MO, August 2022.

Tom Hück in his studio, Park Hills, MO, August 2022.

Tru Ludwig and Tom Hück at Evil Prints, Park Hills, MO, August 2022.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Rhinoceros, 1515. Woodcut. 23.3 x 29.2 cm. (9 3/16 x 11 1/2 in). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine, c. 1498. Black ink on carved pearwood. 15 1/2 × 11 1/8 × 1 in. (39.4 × 28.3 × 2.6 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine, c. 1498. Woodcut. Sheet (trimmed near platemark): 15 9/16 x 11 5/16 in. (39.6 x 28.8 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 9 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. (245 x 190 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Death of the Virgin, from the series Life of the Virgin, 1510. Woodcut. Sheet: 11 9/16 x 8 3/16 in. (294 x 208 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Ecce Homo, from the series Large Woodcut Passion, c. 1498. Woodcut. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Ecce Homo, from the series Large Woodcut Passion, c. 1498. Woodcut with hand coloring. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Four Female Nudes (The Four Witches), 1497. Engraving. 19.2 x 13.6 cm (7 5/8 x 5 3/8 in). Albertina, Vienna.

Hans Baldung (called Hans Baldung Grien) (German, 1484/85–1545). The Witches, 1510. Chiaroscuro woodcut in two blocks, printed in gray and black; second of two states. Sheet: 15 5/16 × 10 5/8 in. (38.9 × 27 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Boris Vallejo (Peruvian-American, born 1941). Artwork for Ozzie Osborne’s album, Ultimate Sin, 1986.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from the series The Apocalypse, 1498. Woodcut. 39.3 x 28.5 cm (15 1/2 x 11 1/4 in). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

William Hogarth (British, 1697–1764). Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn, 1738. Etching and engraving. Sheet (trimmed near platemark): 17 15/16 x 22 7/16 in. (45.5 x 57 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Hück’s prize acquisition, an engraving by William Hogarth (British, 1697–1764). Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn, 1738. Etching and engraving. Plate: 17 15/16 x 22 7/16 in. (45.5 x 57 cm.).

Tom Hück (American, born 1971), published by Evil Prints and Peacock Visual Arts Ltd. A Monkey Mountain Kronikle, 2018–22. Woodcut printed recto and verso on four sheets of Torinoko Japanese paper; the three leaves of the triptych joined. Open with bottom predella: 60 × 94 in. (152.4 × 238.8 cm.); closed: 48 × 48 in. (121.9 × 121.9 cm.).

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I, 1515. Woodcut, 195 woodblocks printed on 36 sheets of large folio paper. Overall size: 354 x 298.5 cm (139 3/8 x 117 1/2 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Tom Hück (American, born 1971), published by Evil Prints. The Transformation of Brandy Baghead, 2009. Woodcut, right panel. 96 x 24 inches.

[DETAIL] Tom Hück (American, born 1971), published by Evil Prints and Peacock Visual Arts Ltd. A Monkey Mountain Kronikle, 2018–22. Woodcut printed recto and verso on four sheets of Torinoko Japanese paper; the three leaves of the triptych joined. Open with bottom predella: 60 × 94 in. (152.4 × 238.8 cm.); closed: 48 × 48 in. (121.9 × 121.9 cm.).

[DETAIL] Tom Hück (American, born 1971), published by Evil Prints and Peacock Visual Arts Ltd. A Monkey Mountain Kronikle, 2018–22. Woodcut printed recto and verso on four sheets of Torinoko Japanese paper; the three leaves of the triptych joined. Open with bottom predella: 60 × 94 in. (152.4 × 238.8 cm.); closed: 48 × 48 in. (121.9 × 121.9 cm.).

Greg Kessler, Tom Hück: The Devil Is In The Details: Prints 1995–2020, a 300+ page, career to date spanning book being published by Fine Print Small Press, 2022.

Various artists including Dan Graham, Mel Bochner, and Ed Ruscha; published by Multiples, Inc., New York. Artists and Photographs, 1970. Cardboard box with various publications and objects. Box: 33.7 × 33.7 × 9.6 cm (13 1/4 × 13 1/4 × 3 3/4 in.). Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

Michelle Grabner (American, born 1962). Gingham Soccer Ball, Issue 27 of The Thing Quarterly, 2015. 
http://thethingquarterly.com/blog/backstory

Tru Ludwig and Tom Hück at Evil Prints, Park Hills, MO, August 2022.

Hück shares one of many sketchbooks, August 2022.

Hück’s sketchbook.

Tom Hück’s works, including the prints and wood blocks for Snacktime Marcy, 1999, installed in the St. Louis Art Museum’s exhibition Catching the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection, August 2022.

[DETAIL] Tom Hück (American, born 1971), published by Evil Prints. Snacktime Marcy, 1999. Blocks and prints in Catching the Moment, Saint Louis Art Museum, 2022.

[DETAIL] Tom Hück (American, born 1971), published by Evil Prints. Snacktime Marcy, 1999. Blocks and prints in Catching the Moment, Saint Louis Art Museum, 2022.

Platemark host selfie: Tru Ludwig and Ann Shafer with Tom Hück’s wood blocks, St. Louis Art Museum, August 2022.

Tom Hück working on a block for Monkey Mountain Kronikle.

Tom Hück working on a block for Monkey Mountain Kronikle.

Peacock Press’ David McCracken and Michael Waite rolling a block for Monkey Mountain Kronikle in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Peacock Press’ David McCracken and James Vass rolling a block for Monkey Mountain Kronikle in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Tom Hück (American, born 1971), published by Evil Prints. American Tickler, 2022. Woodcut. 10 x 12 in.

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