The George Eastman Museum presents In Pursuit of Magic, a retrospective of the late Nathan Lyons, to celebrate the impact the photographer, curator, writer, and educator has had on the history and practice of photography. The exhibition includes never-before-seen color photographs.
The exhibition, which includes 160 photographs and photobooks, offers the first opportunity to see Lyon’s final photographs alongside his earlier bodies of work. Lyons, who died in 2016, had a tremendous impact on the history and practice of photography. For more than sixty years, his commitment to the medium infused his photographs, photobooks, writings, curatorial practice, and teaching. His work as a writer and curator has been widely celebrated, but his own art is not as well known. Nathan Lyons: In Pursuit of Magic concentrates exclusively on his own photography, which drove his other activities in the field.
One of the primary features of Lyons’s work is his use of juxtaposition and sequence as a core tenet of visual language. He strongly believed in visual literacy as the key to navigating modern social life. His color work brings his vision full circle, providing a platform for discussion about the overwhelming presence of images and advertising in contemporary society. Nathan Lyons: In Pursuit of Magic details his vision and demonstrates its relevance for a new, visually sophisticated audience.
Nathan Lyons: In Pursuit of Magic was co-curated by Jamie M. Allen and Lisa Hostetler from the George Eastman Museum and is supported by the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.
Nathan Lyons: In Pursuit of Magic
January 25 – June 9, 2019
George Eastman Museum
900 East Avenue, Rochester
NY 14607, United States
