Photographer Nicholas Nixon to Continue May Lecture Series
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 10, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Art Museum will continue the Robert C. May Photography Lecture series this month with a photographer known for his emotionally deep pieces exploring aging and mortality. Nicholas Nixon will give a talk on his life and work 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in the Kincaid Auditorium in the Gatton College of Business and Economics Building. The event is free and open to the public.
Nicholas Nixon brings a deep empathy to his image-making and has never shied away from difficult subjects such as aging and mortality. After volunteering in a nursing home, he began making portraits of elderly residents, as well as photographing AIDS patients at a time when the diagnosis was a death sentence. In a recent series, he turned an unflinching gaze on himself and his wife of more than four decades — two “timeworn mammals” still in love.
A recipient of National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim fellowships, Nixon has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.
The May Lecture Series explores photography's roots in the 19th century and its reinvention in the digital world. The lecture series is made possible through the Robert C. May Photography Endowment, a museum fund established in 1994 for the support of acquisitions and programs relating to photography. Other speakers coming to town as part of the 2016-17 series include Andrea Modica, Feb. 10, and Graciela Iturbide, April 14.
The mission of the UK Art Museum, part of the UK College of Fine Arts, is to promote the understanding and appreciation of art to enhance the quality of life for people of Kentucky through collecting, exhibiting, preserving and interpreting outstanding works of visual art from all cultures. Home to a collection of more than 4,800 objects including American and European paintings, drawings, photographs, prints and sculpture, the museum presents both special exhibitions and shows of work from its permanent collection.
