{{Short description|British photographer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox artist | name = Cig Harvey | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 1973 | birth_place = Devon, England | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | spouse = | field = Photography | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | influenced by = | influenced = | awards = | elected = | website = {{URL|www.cigharvey.com}} }}
'''Cig Harvey''' (born 1973) is a British fine art photographer known for her surreal images of nature and family.<ref name="INYT">{{cite news|url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50f8512ae4b07aa42ac23794/t/55edb837e4b05e517b4e466e/1441642551586/InternationNewYorkTimes.pdf|title=Of Home and Nature|date=20 August 2015|newspaper=International New York Times|access-date=17 December 2016|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref><ref name="Vogue">{{cite magazine|date=2015|title=Spring Photo Books Guide: Kikuji Kawada, Juergen Teller, Gillian Laub, and More|url=http://www.vogue.com/slideshow/12923915/spring-photo-books-guide-2015#13|magazine=Vogue|location=New York City|publisher=Conde Nast|access-date=17 December 2016|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> Her work has been compared to René Magritte and has been described as revealing "the mysticism in the mundane."<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/05/21/why-cant-great-artists-be-mothers/|title=Why can't great artists be mothers?|last=Urist|first=Jacoba|date=21 May 2015|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=17 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="Independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/photography-you-look-at-me-like-an-emergency-by-cig-harvey-7742070.html|title=Photography: You Look at Me Like an Emergency, By Cig Harvey|date=12 May 2012|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|access-date=17 December 2016|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> Harvey's work has been exhibited internationally and is included in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Farnsworth Art Museum.
Harvey lives and works in Rockport, Maine.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|title=Sparklers and snow in Maine|work=BBC News|date=23 November 2017|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-41906782|accessdate=5 March 2018}}</ref>
== Early life == Cig Harvey grew up in the county of Devon in South West England. She became interested in photography at early age because of the photo portfolios that ''The Independent'' published in their Sunday editions.<ref name="Lenscratch">{{cite magazine|last=Smithson|first=Aline|date=15 June 2012|title=Interview With Cig Harvey: You Look At Me Like An Emergency|url=http://lenscratch.com/2012/06/interview-with-cig-harvey-you-look-at/|magazine=Lenscratch|access-date=17 December 2016}}</ref> At age thirteen, Harvey began working in a darkroom, which furthered her interest in photography.<ref name="Lenscratch" /> She received her MFA from Maine Media College and in 2005 was selected as one of Photo District News's 30 emerging photographers to watch.<ref name="PDN">{{cite magazine|date=17 January 2015|title=PDN's 30 2005|url=http://www.pdnonline.com/features/photographer-interviews/pdns-30-2005/|magazine=Photo District News|access-date=17 December 2016|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref>
== Career == Harvey began her career as an assistant professor at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University where she worked for ten years.<ref name="PhotoNOLA">{{cite web|url=https://photonola.org/event/cig-harvey-workshop-voice-into-vision/|title=Cig Harvey: Voice Into Vision|website=PhotoNOLA.com|access-date=17 December 2016|quote=She was an assistant professor at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University for ten years, but recently took a leap of faith to devote her life to purely making things.|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> Her first solo museum show was held at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo in 2012 in conjunction with the release of her first monograph, ''You Look At Me Like An Emergency'' (Schilt Publishing, 2012).<ref name="CPW">{{cite web|url=http://www.cpw.org/news/cig-harvey/|title=Cig Harvey|website=CPW.org|access-date=17 December 2016|quote=Cig Harvey's photographs have been exhibited widely and are in the permanent collections of major museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. She was a recent finalist in Prix Virginia, an international photography prize for women, and had her first solo museum show at The Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway, in the spring of 2012 in conjunction with the release of her monograph You Look At Me Like An Emergency, Schilt Publishing, 2012.|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref>
In an interview with ''The Telegraph'' about her second monograph, ''Gardening at Night'' (Schilt Publishing, 2015), Harvey cited magical realism as a source of inspiration and said "I am very interested in finding magic in the real world and photography reminds me that this world is amazing."<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/photography/what-to-see/cig-harvey--gardening-at-night/|title=Diary of a life: Cig Harvey's mystical portrait of home and family|last=Newman|first=Cheryl|date=10 September 2015|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=London|access-date=17 December 2016}}</ref>
Harvey's third monograph, ''You an Orchestra You a Bomb'' (Schilt Publishing, 2017) was inspired in part by her near-death experience in a car accident.<ref name="NYT 2017">{{cite web|last1=Blaustein|first1=Jonathan|title=Fairytale Photos of Everyday Life|url=https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/fairytale-photos-of-everyday-life/|work=The New York Times|date=22 November 2017|accessdate=5 March 2018}}</ref> She began to shoot in a more documentary style after the accident, which Harvey explains as being inspired by the " [...] idea of ''the gasp'' and ''awe''. We gasp when something is beautiful, and we gasp when something is terrible. I'm searching for that push/pull in each image."<ref name="NYMag 2017">{{cite web|last1=Drinkard|first1=Jane|title=The Beauty of Stillness|url=https://www.thecut.com/2018/01/photos-cig-harvey-you-an-orchestra-you-a-bomb.html|website=The Cut|date=16 January 2018|publisher=New York Magazine|accessdate=5 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="NYT 2017" /> ''The New York Times'' review described this series as "carefully recreating that sense of childhood wonder, mixing saturated colors with verdant symbols and engaging text, allowing viewers to contemplate that sense of the unknown, but from a place of joy rather than anxiety."<ref name="NYT 2017" />
Her recent work has expanded her focus on familial relationships to her own experience with motherhood and her relationship with her daughter.<ref name="photoeye">{{cite web|url=http://blog.photoeye.com/2015/10/book-review-gardening-at-night.html|title=Book Review: Gardening at Night|date=15 October 2015|website=photoeye.com.com|access-date=17 December 2016|quote=Harvey's words focus on familial relationships with her husband, daughter and mother and visual representations of the joys and trials of life fill the pages:|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> She was featured in ''The New York Times'' in an article titled "Why Can't Great Artists Be Mothers?" rejecting the stereotype that motherhood and artistic dedication are at odds.<ref name="NYT" />
In 2017, Harvey was awarded the "Excellence in Teaching Award" from CENTER and in 2018 she was named the 2018 Prix Virginia Laureate, an international photography prize awarded to one woman each year.<ref name="CENTER" /><ref name="Prix Virginia" />
Harvey was among the five photographers chosen to be included in ''Return to Cuba: In the Footsteps of Walker Evans'' (2016), a feature-length documentary retracing the footsteps of photographer Walker Evans.<ref name="IMDB">{{cite web |title=Return to Cuba: In the Footsteps of Walker Evans (2016) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5897422/ |website=IMDB |publisher=IMDB |accessdate=18 October 2018}}</ref>
In 2020, Harvey was selected by ''The New York Times'' to participate in ''Still Lives'', a project documenting thirteen photographers' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="NYT 2">{{cite news |title=Still Lives |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/21/us/coronavirus-photographers-diary.html |website=The New York Times |date=21 April 2020 |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref>
== Exhibitions ==
=== Solo exhibitions === * 2001: ''Tread Softly'', Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut.<ref name="ArtNet">{{cite web |title=Cig Harvey |url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/cig-harvey/biography |website=ArtNet |publisher=ArtNet |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> * 2002: ''Tread Softly'', Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2012: ''You Look At Me Like An Emergency'', Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2019: ''Eating Flowers: Sensations of Cig Harvey'', Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, Maine.<ref name="PPH">{{cite web |last1=Keyes |first1=Bob |title=Cig Harvey engages the senses with 'Eating Flowers' |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2019/07/29/cig-harvey-engages-the-senses-with-eat-flowers/ |website=Portland Press Herald |date=29 July 2019 |publisher=Portland Press Herald |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref>
=== Group exhibitions === * 2005: ''Figuratively Speaking: Cig Harvey and Tom Sale'', Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2014: ''The Gender Show'', George Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2015: ''Highways & Byways'', Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Portland Public Library, Maine.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2015: ''Pairings: Selections from the Bruce Brown Collection'', University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, Maine.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2015: ''Picturing Maine'', Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2016: ''The Gender Show'', Fundación Canal, Madrid, Spain.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2017: ''Contrasts: Seven Unique Visions in Photography'', Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, Massachusetts.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2017: ''On Photography'', Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2017: ''Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize Exhibition'', National Portrait Gallery, London, London.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2018: ''Memory: Mystery, Magic, and Make-believe'', University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas.<ref name="ArtNet" /> * 2018: ''Retour a la Ligne'', Musée de l'Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland.<ref name="ArtNet" />
== Collections == * Bowdoin College, Special Collections, Brunswick, Maine<ref name="Bowdoin College">{{cite web |last1=Goldfine |first1=Rebecca |title=Special Collections Offers A Journey into Color |url=https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2018/02/an-historical-rainbow-special-collections-offers-a-journey-into-color.html |website=Bowdoin College |publisher=Bowdoin News |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> * Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine<ref name="Farnsworth Art Museum">{{cite web |title=The Hope Chest |url=https://collection.farnsworthmuseum.org/objects/5612 |website=Farnsworth Art Museum |publisher=Farnsworth Art Museum |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> * Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, Texas: 2 prints (as of 19 November 2021)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://emuseum.mfah.org/people/27988/cig-harvey/objects | title=Works | Cig Harvey | People | the MFAH Collections }}</ref>
== Books == * Harvey, Cig (2012). ''You Look At Me Like An Emergency''. Schilt. {{ISBN|9053307710}} * Harvey, Cig (2015). ''Gardening at Night''. Schilt. {{ISBN|9789053308448}} * Harvey, Cig (2015). ''You an Orchestra You a Bomb''. Schilt. {{ISBN|9053308938}} * Harvey, Cig (2021). ''Blue Violet''. Monacelli. {{ISBN|9781580935760}}
== Awards == * 2017: Paris Photo, Karl Lagerfeld Selection, Finalist.<ref name="PP">{{cite web |title=Discover the Karl Lagerfeld Selection at Paris Photo |url=https://www.parisphoto.com/en/fair/news/Discover-the-Karl-Lagerfeld-selection-at-Paris-Photo/ |website=Paris Photo |publisher=Paris Photo |accessdate=18 October 2018}}</ref> * 2017: Clarence John Laughlin Award, Finalist.<ref name="NOPA">{{cite web |title=The 2017 Clarence John Laughlin Award |url=https://neworleansphotoalliance.org/photography-grants-new-orleans/the-clarence-john-laughlin-award/2017-finalists-clarence-john-laughlin-award/ |website=New Orleans Photo Alliance |publisher=New Orleans Photo Alliance |accessdate=18 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019003053/https://neworleansphotoalliance.org/photography-grants-new-orleans/the-clarence-john-laughlin-award/2017-finalists-clarence-john-laughlin-award/ |archive-date=19 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2017: Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, London, Finalist.<ref name="NPG">{{cite web |title=Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/twppp-2017/exhibition.php |website=National Portrait Gallery |publisher=NPG |accessdate=18 October 2018}}</ref> * 2017: Excellence in Teaching Award, CENTER<ref name="CENTER">{{cite web |title=Excellence in Teaching Award |url=https://visitcenter.org/teaching-award/ |website=CENTER |publisher=CENTER |accessdate=18 October 2018}}</ref> * 2018: Prix Virginia, International Photography Prize for Women.<ref name="Prix Virginia">{{cite web |title=Presentation of the 2018 Virginia Prize |url=http://www.prixvirginia.com/copie--de-expositiongoudal.html |website=Prix Virginia |publisher=Prix Virginia |accessdate=18 October 2018}}</ref> * 2021: Maine in America Award, Farnsworth Art Museum.<ref name="Artfix">{{cite web |title=Farnsworth Celebrates Thirteen Women of Vision |url=https://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/510-farnsworth-celebrates-thirteen-women-of-vision-for-singular-contri |website=Artfix Daily |publisher=Artfix |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.cigharvey.com Harvey's Website] * [https://www.robertkleingallery.com Robert Klein Gallery] * [http://www.robertmann.com/cig-harvey/ Robert Mann Gallery] * [https://www.kopeikingallery.com/artists/cig-harvey Kopeikin Gallery]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Cig}} Category:1973 births Category:Photographers from Devon Category:Living people Category:People from Rockport, Maine