Michael Kenna Opening Reception and Book Signing

Michael Kenna returns to the Catherine Edelman Gallery in his 19th solo exhibition featuring work from his recent book on Japan, as well as work from Europe and Asia. The exhibition opens July 8 and runs through September 2, 2016.

Opening reception and book signing with the artist:
Friday, July 8
5:00 – 7:30

For more than forty years, Michael Kenna has traveled the world, sharing his vision through small black and white gelatin silver photographs. With more than fifty books published on his work, he is undoubtedly one of the most exhibited and collected photographers working today. Whether working along the shores and temples of Japan, among the villages in Italy, the vineyards in France, or the mountains in China, Kenna seeks places of silence where the viewer can stop, breathe and appreciate the haunting beauty found in nature. His pictures are quiet and intimate, taken in places that are both remote and familiar. He hikes mountains, travels across frozen lakes, battles tourist buses… constantly searching for a particular moment or view.

Throughout the years he has photographed bridges, lakes, temples, seacoasts, cityscapes, gardens, boat ramps, rice paddies, seaweed farms, — the list is endless. Through his lens, we witness the effects of weather and time. This can be seen in a single tree hovering over Kussharo Lake, photographed from 2002 – 2013, its bare branches sagging from the strength of storms and heat; and in a majestic tree standing defiant in the waters of Biwa Lake, Honshu, photographed in 2002/03 and again in 2012. With a signature style all his own, Michael Kenna has achieved international recognition for his photography which has been exhibited worldwide and is included in the permanent collections of most major museums.

His new book, Forms of Japan (Prestel Publishing, 2015), features 240 photographs taken over a thirty year time period. The book is organized into five chapters — Sea, Land, Trees, Spirit and Sky — taken in Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Okinawa, and Shikoku, representing the five corners of Japan. While many of the images in the book may be familiar to avid Kenna fans, this is the first time all of his work from Japan has been compiled into a comprehensive book, showcasing a country that Michael Kenna treasures. Later in July, Michael Kenna will travel back to Japan to be awarded the 2016 Higashikawa Special Photographer Award for his work on Hokkaido.