Solo exhibition by internationally recognised photographer opens in Louth

Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda has today announced the opening of Stateside, a major solo exhibition by internationally recognised artist and conceptual documentary photographer Jackie Nickerson. The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow, 28 March and runs until 9 May 2026.

Stateside is a sweeping and fragmented visual diary of a decade Nickerson spent living and working across the United States. Bringing together photographs taken in locations ranging from Chicago and New York to Utah and Hawaii, the work captures a series of raw, recurring impressions of contemporary America.

Rather than focusing on specific locations, Nickerson’s images return to repeated motifs – chain-link fences, basketball courts, suburban houses, classrooms and gas stations – suggesting a sense of sameness and functionality across vastly different landscapes. These elements become markers of a wider system, reflecting the structures and rhythms that underpin everyday life in the United States.

A distinctive feature of the work is Nickerson’s process. Captured with whatever camera she had at hand – medium format, 35mm, point and shoot, iPhone – her photographs were assembled in sequences in her studio and then re-photographed, creating a visual narrative that resists definitive interpretation. The result is a body of work that reflects a complex country.

Commenting on the exhibition, Nickerson said: “Stateside is a stream of consciousness of how I saw America, and how I came to understand it over a period of ten years. Over time, I became less interested in individual places and more aware of the patterns that repeat across them – the same structures, the same visual language, appearing again and again. I began to notice a kind of uniformity in how places are built and organised, shaped by systems that prioritise efficiency and economies of scale.

“This work grew out of a long period of looking and returning, and trying to understand what those repetitions might reveal. I hope that when people encounter the work, they find space to reflect on what feels familiar, but also on what might be going on beneath the surface.”

Nickerson is an American-born, Irish/British artist who has lived in Louth for almost 25 years. Her work is rooted in long-term research and often explores themes of labour, identity and environment. She has exhibited in Ireland and internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; the Vatican Museums, Rome; and the National Gallery of Ireland. Alongside her artistic practice, she also regularly undertakes editorial commissions for publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair and Time, and has photographed numerous high-profile public figures.

The exhibition at Highlanes coincides with the publication of Nickerson’s new photobook, Stateside, published by Steidl, with texts by Tom Downey and Colm Tóibín. The exhibition is curated by Aoife Ruane and forms part of a national tour, with subsequent presentations at Galway International Arts Festival (13–26 July 2026) and Butler Gallery (27 February – 10 April 2027).

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Aoife Ruane, Director of Highlanes Gallery and curator of the exhibition, said: “Jackie Nickerson is one of the most compelling photographic artists working today, and Stateside is an ambitious and deeply considered body of work. It reflects a sustained engagement with place, but also with the systems and structures that shape how we live.

“At Highlanes, we are particularly interested in work that invites audiences to look more closely and think more deeply about the world around them. This exhibition does exactly that, and we are delighted to present it here in Drogheda as part of its national tour.”

‘Stateside’ officially opens to the public on Saturday, 28 March. The opening will be marked by a special in-conversation event between Jackie Nickerson and Irish writer and journalist Sinéad Gleeson at Highlanes Gallery.

Further information is available at highlanes.ie.