Nic Nicosia
(B. 1951)
Nic Nicosia is a Texas artist known for narrative photographs of suburban life. Nicosia was born in Dallas and has lived most of his life in the same area where he grew up. He received a BS degree in Radio-TV-Film from The University of North Texas in Denton in 1974. He declined work as a film maker to open a camera shop with a loan from his father and purchased his first handheld camera to better relate to his customers.
Nicosia’s early photographs were influenced by urban street photographers like Lee Friedlander. Wanting to improve his skills, he sold the camera shop in 1979 and enrolled in graduate classes at UNT. He began making photographs that were more cinematic in effect. Inspired by the flattened perspectives of the coloring books used by his two young daughters, he created playful parodies of everyday life using family members and friends as models. The work was a critical success and Nicosia was chosen to participate in the Whitney Biennial in 1983.
Nicosia’s early photographs exploded with brilliant color and humor. In the late 80s and into the 90s, he went through a black and white phase, a change that allowed him the opportunity to bring an enigmatic feel to his work. Many of these photos put the viewer in the role of a voyeur peering into or out of a window or happening upon a group of people engaged in an unexpected activity. Though the scenes are carefully staged, they toy with our perceptions and create a sense of uncertainty as to how they should be interpreted - is this a completely innocent situation or is something more ominous going on?
Nicosia has returned to color with his current work crafting cartoonish interior spaces using a mixed media format in his photographs. He has also expanded his media to include drawings and sculpture. Nicosia’s work may be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Dallas Museum of Art; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Guggenheim Museum, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, NY; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY.
Art on Campus
Moving Picture - Still #2
Year: 1998
Medium: Silver Print Photograph
Location: Theatre Arts Building, 2nd Floor
Gift of Rob Clark and Jerry Thacker
In this mysterious photo, a young girl in a hooded coat stands in profile at an open glass paned doorway of a library or study. Light streams in from an unidentified source illuminating the interior of the darkened room and elongating shadows across the floor. To the right is a television set with the head and shoulders of a male figure silhouetted in a round circle of light. The setting brings to mind a science fiction or horror movie where an innocent character has opened the door to an alien or monster. The use of black and white film accentuates the contrasts between light and dark and adds to the sense of uneasiness. Nicosia leaves the interpretation entirely up to the viewer.
This photograph is actually a snippet of a scene from a five-minute short film called “Moving Picture” that depicts family members moving throughout the interior of their suburban home.
Surprisingly, the movie was filmed in color. With limited field of vision, a hand-held camera casually moves room to room as kids and parents are engaged in various activities. The film is captivating with an original score of wavering Chris Isaak-like vibrato guitar playing throughout and only a single word of spoken dialogue. Though much more innocent in mood than the still photo, it is still a bit haunting as though the viewer has entered a private space without invitation.
Interesting tidbit: Though the scene in the photograph occurs in the film, it was one of three made with a separate camera set up to capture a specific moment in black and white.