Craig Blacklock

Son of pioneering color nature photographer Les Blacklock, Craig Blacklock grew up with a camera in hand. Craig’s artistic practice is intrinsically linked to the interface of land and water in wilderness areas—most often Lake Superior. Since 1976 his artwork has evolved from large-format color landscapes depicting what these places looked like; to black and white nudes creating an emotional connection to the landscapes by expressing what it felt like to be within their environs; to increasingly nonrepresentational imagery untethered from context. In his new Light Waves photographs, the shoreline of Lake Superior and the sky above are seen only indirectly—reflecting as an amalgamation from the complex mirror of the water’s surface.

Blacklock’s work has been shown in over 35 solo exhibitions, including at the Phipps Center for the Arts, Mill City Museum, Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Minnesota Center for Photography, Palm Beach Photographic Centre, and Tweed Museum of Art. His 19 books have won numerous awards, including three gold awards from Independent Publishers, a worldwide competition. He was the recipient of the George Morrison Artist Award in 2018. His work is widely used in corporate and healthcare settings, and can be fou...

Photographed alongside Craig’s father, Les Blacklock, who was also a wilderness photographer, from the time he was 5. Art major at the University of Minnesota, Duluth for two years.

(One or two person shows unless noted otherwise. Selected from over 35.)

Palm Beach Photographic Centre Museum, FL 2022-3
White Bear Lake Center for the Arts, MN 2019
Watershed Gallery, National Eagle Center, Wabasha, MN 2019
Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN, 2019
Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN, 2018
Stillwater Public Library, Stillwater, MN, 2018
Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI, 2018
Mill City Museum (Minnesota Historical Society), Minneapolis, MN 2018
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway Visitor Center, St. Croix Falls, WI 2018
Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center, Ashland, WI, 2015-2016
Crary Art Gallery, Pennsylvania; Wilderness at 50  One of 11 photographers  Celebrating 50 years since Wilderness Act.  2014
Merrill Lynch Fine Art Gallery, within Great Lakes Aquarium, MN, 2013
Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN, 2012
Merrill Lynch Fine Art Gallery, within Great Lakes Aquarium, MN, 2012
Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN, 2004
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN, 2004
Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN, 1995
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN 1993
Polaroid Corporate Headquarters, Cambridge, MA, 1992
Photographic Images Gallery, Portland, OR, 1991