'Desert Secrets' at UMFA

Every time you gaze into the night sky, nearly 200 American satellites stare back. Each day in secluded deserts, unmarked planes participate in top-secret operations at so-called military "black sites."

This unseen world is the focus of Trevor Paglen's art and research. A hybrid photographer, writer, investigative journalist and self-described "experimental geographer," Paglen is the author of three books and has garnered attention for his blurring of boundaries between contemporary art, social science and politics.

Four of Paglen's large-scale photographs are part of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts' exhibition "Desert Secrets: Photographs from the Permanent Collection," which runs through Jan. 31, 2010.

In connection with the exhibition, Paglen will give a free lecture about his work on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Katherine W. and Ezekiel R. Dumke Jr. Auditorium at UMFA.

The exhibition features the work of Paglen and six other contemporary photographers who investigate the vast, barren and seemingly uninhabited spaces of Southwestern deserts, exploring themes of nuclear testing, clandestine military operations and the inherently mysterious appearance of the landscape itself.

For more information about the lecture or the exhibition, visit www.umfa.utah.edu or call 801-581-7332.