Photo Curator Karen Irvine to Deliver May Lecture

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 13, 2018) — Finishing out this year’s Robert C. May Photography Lecture Series, the University of Kentucky Art Museum will host Karen Irvine, chief curator and deputy director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. The free public lecture will begin 4 p.m. today (Friday), April 13, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall.

Irvine’s lecture will discuss her approach to uncovering and supporting work of emerging and mid-career photographers through programs of exhibitions, publications, special projects and acquisitions.

At the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, Irvine leads one of the most vibrant centers for photography in the Midwest and has organized over 50 exhibitions of contemporary photography at venues all around the world, among them: the Lishui International Photography Festival, China; Daegu Photography Biennale, South Korea; and the New York Photo festival. Her exhibitions include: “Petcoke: Tracing Dirty Energy,” “North Korean Perspectives” and “Grace of Intentions: Photography, Architecture, and the Monument.”

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 who have appeared as part of the 2017-2018 series include, Lori Nix, Teju Cole and Dan Estabrook.

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 approximately 5,000 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.