CHRISTIAN HECKSCHER
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Christian A.G. Heckscher was born in Brussels, Belgium, on May 6, 1951. 

 

At an early age, he develops a passion for the power of images through movies, books, and the famous Belgian art of comic strip.  His travels and time spent on the Atlantic Coast have etched a very large place in his childhood best memories.

 These themes will be found later in his work. 

 

From 1967 to 1972 he studies graphic arts and advertising as well as engraving techniques in Brussels

He travels extensively, collecting series of sketches and photographs from Brittany to the South of France, Sicily, Greece, Southern England and Scotland.  In addition he participated as an actor in the “Algol Theater”, where he was influenced by his encounter with Julian Beck and Judith Messina of the Living Theater in New-York.

In 1971, he also worked briefly with the famous dancer and creator of ballets, Maurice Bejart in Brussels

 

His first trip to New-York in 1973, broadened his horizon and infused a shock to his artistic vision.

He recalls the feeling of first steps in NYC, “To me it was like landing on the moon”! 

 

An extended journey to Mexico in 1977 allows him to discover new cultural energies and art forms. 

 

Another milestone is created in 1978, when he was invited to exhibit his work in the (then) prestigious Brussels art gallery; Isy Brachot.  The following years, galleries in Paris and London opened their doors to exhibit more of his work. 

 

After Mexico,  the attraction for South America was alive and well.  He decided to travel to Peru, exploring the country for many weeks before a long return to Europe through the visit of most of the Central American countries from Peru to Los Angeles, California. 

 

From 1980 to 1993, he settles in Southern California with frequent return to Europe to exhibit his work. 

Searching for a quieter environment, he moves to an Island on the East Coast of the United States until 2007 

 

After years of isolation necessary to accumulate the energy and the emotional ingredient for the creation of

new bodies of work, he now lives back in Southern California, working on new and extensive series of artworks.

 

 

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“A work of art is like a friend, a partner, a lover.  It must access to a certain amount of joy, a complicity of intellect and emotions,  but most of all it should light your inner fire and reach your soul.   I am more interested by sharing emotions transpiring from the intensity of light, the energy of colors or the power suggested by the subject itself, than by a pleasant image, even beautifully done.   To my view, there is no room for small-talk with art”. -Christian Heckscher.