"Nuclear Matters," a survey of works by photographers, filmmakers and video artists who examine the pervasive influence and impact of nuclear technology on daily existence, society and culture, will be on display from Nov. 17 to Dec. 20 in the Memorial Union Art Gallery at the University of California, Davis. An opening reception will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17. Featured in the show will be photographs by Berlyn Brixner, Carol Conde and Karl Beveridge, Robert Del Tredici, Peter Goin, David Graham, James Lerager, Yoshito Matsushige and Margaret Stratton. Also included will be four videos: "Free Zone: Democracy Meets the Nuclear Threat" (1989), by Mary Beth Braun, David L. Brown and Jim Heddle; "Final Test for the Earth" (1990), by David L. Brown, Lynn Feinerman and Eric Ladenburg; "In the Nuclear Shadow: What Can the Children Tell Us?" (1983), by Eric Thiermann and Ian Thiermann, made available courtesy of The Video Project in Oakland; and "Atomic Bond" (1990), by KUTV in Salt Lake City, Utah. James Lerager, a San Francisco Bay area photographer and journalist, will talk about his work at noon, Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Cabernet Room of the Silo Complex at UC Davis. Lerager, who has been documenting nuclear-age issues since 1983, produced "In the Shadow of the Cloud" (1988), which includes the histories of 40 individuals involved in America's atmospheric nuclear testing program, conducted from 1945 to 1962. He also has worked on stories concerning nuclear issues in the Marshall Islands, Great Britain and the U.S.S.R. Lerager will show slides of his work and discuss recent visits to Chernobyl and communities in Kazakhstan, which surround the principal Soviet nuclear testing grounds, the Semipalatainsk Polygon. The impact of nuclear technology, both visible and invisible, in areas as diverse as medicine, politics, science and the environment, posed a challenge and dilemma that the artists in "Nuclear Matters" approached in various ways. The exhibition offers no single viewpoint, but presents a set of interpretations that depicts an interwoven relationship among diverse topics, including the scientific development of nuclear bombs and testing, employment in the nuclear industry, health hazards of radiation fallout and fictionalized depictions of nuclear crises. The exhibition takes as its starting point the universal image of the mushroom cloud and proposes that the impact of the development of nuclear weaponry and power on culture is not neutral. The works show that nuclear issues were not eliminated with the thawing of the Cold War, but that consequences of the nuclear industry will continue, the result not only of such catastrophes as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, but also of other environmental contamination caused by nuclear residue and the accumulation of radioactive fallout. Berlyn Brixner is the official photographer of the world's first atomic blast. He and an assistant used 50 cameras connected by wires to capture the first atomic explosion on July 16, 1945, in Alamogordo, N.M. Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge are Canadian artists who examine how social and political concerns overlap with personal and domestic issues for the workers at an Ontario power plant. Their style combines text, graphics, montage, elaborate sets and live actors. Robert Del Tredici has been documenting the production facilities for nuclear weapons in America and Canada for the past 10 years. His book, "At Work in the Fields of the Bomb" (1987), received the Olive Branch Award for the most outstanding book on the subject of world peace in 1988. Peter Goin has photographed Nevada's Nuclear Test Site, the Trinity Site in Alamogordo, N.M., the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, and the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the Marshall Islands. His book, "Nuclear Landscapes," was published this year in conjunction with a museum tour of his photographs. David Graham was hired in 1988 to provide photographs for a Congressional Report on the relative safety of contemporary nuclear weapons testing techniques. His images show the underground tunnels at the Nevada Test Site where nuclear bombs are tested. Yoshito Matsushige was a newspaper photographer and army reporter living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb exploded 2,000 feet over the city on Aug. 6, 1945. The five pictures he took that day are the only ones taken from within the city on the day the bomb exploded. Margaret Stratton's work addresses how films and television programs are imbued with messages and codes to manipulate audiences into not only accepting the use of nuclear weapons, but their continued testing and production. The traveling exhibition is curated by Timothy Druckrey and Marnie Gillett, and organized by San Francisco Camerawork. The Memorial Union Art Gallery is located on the second floor of the Memorial Union building. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays. The gallery will be closed from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 for the Thanksgiving holiday, and on Dec. 15 for a campus administrative holiday. Special open hours will be observed from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, for Parents Weekend. For more information, call (916) 752-2885.