Platemark’s series three offers its first interview with an artist, Tom Hück. And what a great place to start. In s3e4, Platemark hosts Ben Levy and Ann Shafer sit down with Hück whose large-scale, multi-panel woodcuts skewer rural life in the American Midwest in all its unabashed weirdness and glory. They talk about Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Albrecht Dürer’s Rhinoceros, and the rest of Hück’s heroes. And, the artist explains why his Midwestern surname carries a German umlaut. Ya gotta love an artist who loves Old Master prints.

Episode image: Hück by Hück

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). 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.

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.

Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1435/50–1491). Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons, c. 1470–75. Engraving. Sheet: 30 x 21.8 cm (11 13/16 x 8 9/16 in). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Mark Wilkinson (English, born 1952). Eddie appears as a samurai on the cover art for Iron Maiden's 17th album, Senjutsu, 2021.

Bill Fick (American, born 1963). Ooze Head, 2000. Linoleum cut. Image: 23 x 19 in.

Tom Hück (American, born 1971). The Tommy Peeperz (center panel), 2014. Woodcut. Sheet: 50 x 62 in.

Dennis McNett (American, born 1972). Winter Queen, 2014. Woodcarving and acrylic. 18 x 24 in.

Sue Coe (American, born 1951). It Can Happen Here (Trump), 2016. Linoleum cut. 10 x 8 in.

Honoré Daumier (French, 1808–1879). Rue Transnonain, le 15 Avril, 1834, Plate 24 of l'Association mensuelle, 1834. Lithograph. Image: 11 1/4 x 17 3/8 in. (286 x 441 mm.); sheet: 14 5/16 x 21 11/16 in. (364 x 551 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

William Hogarth (British, 1697–1764). A Chorus of Singers, or The Oratorio, 1732. Etching. Sheet: 6 13/16 x 6 7/16 in. (173 x 163 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

USEFUL LINKS

Tom Hück is represented by C.G. Boerner Gallery: http://cgboerner.com/artists/tom-huck/

Hück’s website: http://www.evilprints.com/

Hück’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evilprints/?hl=en    

Hück’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theevilhead

Link for Saint Louis Art Museum exhibition, Catching the Moment: https://www.slam.org/exhibitions/catching-the-moment/