Acclaimed Photographer Matthew Pillsbury to Give Photography Society Lecture at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kansas City, MO. Oct. 15, 2015

Membership in Society Promotes Photography Program

Matthew Pillsbury, American, b. France (b. 1973). Hordes, la Galerie d'Anatomie Comparée, Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 2008. Inkjet print, 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2009.71.25. — Matthew Pillsbury, American, b. France (b. 1973). Hordes, la Galerie d’Anatomie Comparée, Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 2008. Inkjet print, 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2009.71.25.

Photographer Matthew Pillsbury will speak at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Atkins Auditorium on November 5 at 6 p.m. Pillsbury is celebrated for his use of long exposures to suggest the passage of time and the dynamic interplay between human and architectural subjects in urban settings.

Born in Neuilly, France and based in New York City, Pillsbury graduated with a BA from Yale University and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. A palpable energy and a hypnotic conflation of figural movement and architectural stasis characterizes Pillsbury’s oeuvre. He first gained attention for his series of large format, black-and-white views of people moving through museums and tourist sites in New York, Paris, Vienna, London and Venice. Building on this concept for his series Screen Lives, Pillsbury focused his camera on people engaging with technological devices—cell phones, computers, and television sets. In 2014, Pillsbury received a Guggenheim Fellowship to produce a body of color work in Tokyo. His images from that series convey both the natural and artificial beauty of that populous city. Pillsbury continued working in color upon his return to New York City, photographing in Manhattan and the outer boroughs.

Pillsbury’s work is included in many prominent American and European museums, and he is the recipient of Guggenheim Fellowship (2104) and the Prix HSBC pour la Photographie (2007). He has two published monographs: Time Frame (2007) and City Stages (2013).

The Photography Society was formed in November 2007 for persons interested in supporting the activities of the museum’s Photography Department. The group is dedicated to the collecting of photographs in the community and to increasing public knowledge of the art and history of the medium through high-level public programming.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access and insight into its renowned collection of more than 35,000 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the region. The institution-wide transformation of the Nelson-Atkins has included the 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building expansion and renovation of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.

The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org/.