Alexander Heilner is a multi-disciplinary artist who works in photography, video, digital imaging, installation, lighting design, and sculpture. His work has been exhibited, screened, and performed nationally and internationally, from MoMA to Burning Man. In 2012, he won the prestigious Baker Artist Prize and his work was featured at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The same year, Alex’ commissioned digital collages were featured in the new Johns Hopkins Hospital complex, and Baltimore magazine named him the city’s best photographer.

Most of Alex’ photography consists of color landscapes. He is obsessed with the relationship between artificial and natural elements within the environment, and within our culture. His recent aerial photography has taken him to an array of locations around the U.S. and the world, looking at the infrastructure and other marks humans unwittingly paint across the earth’s surface. Alex has recently begun a long-term collaborative project to document Arctic communities that are in flux due to climate change.

In addition to his fine art work, Alex works selectively in photojournalism and commercial photography, taking on print and web projects that hold particular interest for him. His work has been featured in National Geographic, JPEG, Details, and the website of public radio’s Marketplace. Nearly 200 of Alex’ photographs are featured in the 2010 Encyclopedia of New York City.

Alex earned his B.A. at Princeton University and his M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has been teaching photography at MICA / The Maryland Institute College of Art since 2003, and currently serves as the Associate Dean of Design and Media at MICA. Previously, Alex taught photography and digital imaging at NYU, as well as film and video production at SVA. He has also served as the director of the photography program at the JCC in Manhattan.

Heilner’s visit to UNL is made possible by the Hixson-Lied Endowment.

Image Caption: “Cape Coral, Florida,” 20”x 30,” Archival pigment print.