300 East 3rd Street
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 280-2201
www.lexingtonlyric.com
Hours: Tue – Fri: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Sat: 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Lexington Camera Club: New Work
Dates: October 6 – December 15, 2017
Events: Artist Reception: Friday, October 13 at 4:00-7:00 pm (Gallery Talk by Curator Paul Paletti at 6:30 pm); Gallery Hop Reception: Friday, November 17 at 5:00-8:00 pm
Featured Artists: Dobree Adams, Ruth Adams, Andrew Brinkhorst, Angel Clark, David Coyle, Tom Eblen, Elizabeth Fielder, Tom Fielder, Walt Foreman, Jerry Freeman, Rich Greissman, Nori Hall, Garrett Hansen, Marcia Lamont Hopkins, Mick Jeffries, Libby Falk Jones, Darrell Kincer, Susan King, Evelyn Astrid Knight, Ed Lawrence, Guy Mendes, Lee Ann Paynter, Sergio Pineda, Greg Reynolds, Sharon Ruble, Deirdre Scaggs, Matthew Schüler, Heather Stratton, Bob Tankersley, Maryjean Wall, Melissa Watt, Ken Weaver
The The Lexington Camera Club: New Work exhibit is dedicated to the memory of Nori Hall (1950 – 2017), an extraordinary and creative image-maker, and one of the founders of the reincarnated club. The Lexington Camera Club began meeting again in 2014 after several members heard historian James D. Birchfield talk about the work and members of the original club. They resolved to restart the long dormant club. This is the third exhibition of the reincarnated Lexington Camera Club which, like its predecessor, meets monthly and is open to all.
The first meeting of the original Lexington Camera Club was held in December of 1936. Its members were professionals – doctors, lawyers, professors – pursuing their own creative visions. There were no professional photographers. The group’s first formal exhibition was in 1940.
The club, which was especially active in the 50s and 60s, essentially dissolved after the death of Ralph Eugene Meatyard in 1972. Renowned photographers Van Deren Coke and Meatyard were two of the club’s leaders. Active members included Robert C. May and Cranston Richie. Guy Mendes joined the club when he was a student at the University of Kentucky. Jonathan Greene, who published Meatyard’s first book, attended meetings and exhibitions.
Unlike the current club, throughout its history the original club was overwhelmingly male.
The original club encompassed different aesthetic directions and techniques and, unlike other photography clubs, never required adherence to specific guidelines or assignments. However, members often shared prints and shot and experimented together.
The members of the reincarnated Lexington Camera Club embrace that spirit of experimentation.
The work of the original Lexington Camera Club was featured at the Cincinnati Art Museum as part of the FotoFocus 2016 Biennial and documented in the accompanying book, Kentucky Renaissance: The Lexington Camera Club and Its Community, 1954 – 1974.
Lyric Theatre Contact: Donald Mason, Executive Director, director@lexingtonlyric.com
(859) 280-2218, ext. 234
Lexington Camera Club Contact: Guy Mendes, guy@guymendes.com