Michael Dweck (American, )

Michael Dweck (American, b.September 26, 1957) is a photographer best known for his photography that uses erotic and suggestive imagery. Though he was born in Brooklyn, NY, he moved to Long Island with his family when he was just three years old. After graduating from the John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, NY, he entered the Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, as an Architecture major. The following year, Dweck changed his major to Fine Arts and Communications. He graduated from the school with a BFA in 1979. Three years after graduating, the photographer opened Michael Dweck & Campbell. In 1985, Dweck attended The New School for Social Research where he studied under Marshall Blonsky, a famous semiotician.

The photographer spent much of the 1990s focusing on advertising work; he opened the company Dweck & Campbell in 1992 before changing the name to Dweck! in 1999. He won several awards for his advertising work, including the Gold Lion at the Cannes International Festival, Agency of the Year from the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and the AICP Award for Advertising Excellence.

Though Dweck enjoyed his work in advertising, he closed his business in 2002 to give himself time for photography. His first exhibit came that same year, and he turned that exhibit, The End: Montauk, NY, into a book. During the initial run of the book, it was so popular that the publisher ran out of copies. The following year, Sotheby's New York ran an exhibit of that work, making it the first time the auction house devoted a show to a living person. One of Dweck’s more famous projects is the series Mermaids, which he started working on in 2006. The series showed female models underwater in mermaid poses. Ditch Plains Press compiled the photographs from the series and released the images as the book Mermaids Collector's Edition. Dweck’s work has been displayed at the Staley Wise Gallery in New York, NY, the Gallery Orchard in Nagoya, Japan, and the Fototeca de Cuba Museum in Havana, Cuba. Dweck lives and works in New York City and Montauk, NY.

Timeline

1957
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to David and Sydelle Dweck.
1960
Family moved to Bellmore, New York, a town on Long Island.
1975
Graduated from John F. Kennedy High School, Bellmore, NY. Studied Architecture at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, then switched to the Communication/Fine Arts Department in 1976.
1979
B.F.A., Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
1982
Opened Michael Dweck & Co., a communications think tank.
1985
Studied with Marshall Blonsky at The New School for Social Research, NY.
1992
Opened Dweck & Campbell, later renamed Dweck! (1999), an advertising and creative content company.
1998
Awarded Gold Lion at the Cannes International Festival for Arctic Ground Squirrel, Cannes, France.
1999
Selected best TV Commercial of The Year, Adweek and Communication Arts magazine. Awarded Agency of the Year by the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
2000
Received the AICP Award for Advertising Excellence. Work added to the permanent film collection of the Department of Film, Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Selected to Adweek’s Creative All-Stars.
2001
Interviewed in Comedy in Advertising, a documentary on the subject of humor in advertising.
2002
Closed his company and leaves advertising to concentrate on photography full time.
Photographs The End: Montauk, N.Y., for his first exhibition and book.
2003
First one-man exhibition at Sotheby's, New York: The End: Montauk, N.Y. It was the first ever solo show for a living artist held at the auction house.
2004
The End: Montauk, N.Y., is published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., and sells out first printing in two weeks.
2005
Began photographing his Three project, a series of triptychs composed of images of manmade and natural forms and the human body.
2006
Began extensive photographing for his Mermaids project.
2008
Mermaids and Mermaids Collector's Edition is published by Ditch Plains Press, a collection of photographs exploring the theme of the female nude submerged in water.
2009
Began extensive photographing for his Habana Libre project.
2011
Habana Libre and Habana Libre Collector's Edition is published by Damiani editore, a contemporary exploration playing on the theme of privilege in a classless society, beauty and art in one of the last communist capitals, Habana.
Michael Dweck artnet Artist Works Catalogue
Lives and works in New York, NY and Montauk, NY.
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Exhibitions

2012
"Habana Libre," Fototeca de Cuba Museum. Havana, Cuba (solo)
2011–2012
"Michael Dweck: The End and Habana Libre," Staley Wise Gallery, New York, NY, (solo)
2011–2012
"Habana Libre," Blitz Gallery. Tokyo, Japan (solo)
2011
"Michael Dweck: Island Life," Izzy Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (solo)
2011
"Habana Libre," MODERNISM, San Francisco, CA (solo)
2010–2011
"Michael Dweck: Giant Pin-Up Polaroids," Maruani & Noirhomme Gallery, Knokke, Belgium (solo)
2010
"The Big Picture," Staley-Wise Gallery, New York, NY
2010
"American Mermaid," Acte 2 Galerie, Paris, France, in collaboration with Maruani & Noirhomme Gallery (solo)
2010
"Michael Dweck: Paradise Lost," MODERNISM, San Francisco, CA (solo)
2009
"Mermaids," Gallery Orchard, Nagoya, Japan (solo)
2008
"Michael Dweck: Mermaids, The End, and Flowers," Keszler Gallery, Southampton, NY (solo)
2008
"Mermaids," Delphine Pastor Gallery, Monaco in collaboration with Maruani & Noirhomme Gallery, Monaco (solo)
2008
"Mermaids," Blitz, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
2008
"Michael Dweck," Maruani & Noirhomme Gallery, Knokke, Belgium (solo)
2008
"Mermaids," Staley Wise Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
2008
"Mermaids," Robert Morat | Galerie, Hamburg (solo)
2006
"The End: Montauk, N.Y.," Blitz, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
2006
"The End: Montauk, N.Y.," Gallery Orchard, Nagoya, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
2005
Theory, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
2005
"Three," Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
2003
"The End: Montauk, NY," Sotheby's, New York, NY (solo)
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Literature

2011
"Michael Dweck: Habana Libre," Damiani editore. Bologna, Italy.
2008
"Mermaids," Ditch Plains Press. New York, New York.
2005
"Three," Limited edition black and white exhibition catalogue. Aoyama. Tokyo, Japan.
2004
"The End: Montauk, NY," Harry N. Abrams. New York, New York.
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