Michael Kenna: A Retrospective – Exhibition and Portfolio Introduction

photo-eye Gallery Michael Kenna: A Retrospective – Exhibition and Portfolio Introduction photo-eye Gallery is excited to formally debut three online portfolios corresponding with our exhibition Michael Kenna: A Retrospective on view this Friday, July 29th.

photo-eye Gallery is excited to formally debut three online portfolios corresponding with our exhibition Michael Kenna: A Retrospective on view this Friday, July 29th, as a part of the Railyard Arts District's Last Friday Art Walk. While the exhibition showcases more than 50 beautifully installed black-and-white works, the gallery has over 70 total prints available by the artist. Michael Kenna: A Retrospective features selected works produced by the artist between 1987 and 2016 and includes images made in Japan, China, France, Egypt, South Korea and the United States, among other countries. Continuing through September 10th, 2016, an opening, artist reception, and book signing will take place on Friday, August 5th from 5 – 7 PM. 

Exhibition view of Michael Kenna: A Retrospective at photo-eye Gallery

Michael Kenna is master of contemporary photography. Known for clean compositions, long exposures, and minimalist aesthetics, Kenna’s signature style remains highly influential among a generation of photographers. Kenna views his process as a conversation with the landscape, each individual communion lasting anywhere between a few minutes to a number of hours. The images are transformative, and photographed in black-and-white because, as the artist describes, “color is what we see all the time.”

Single Tree, Mita, Hokkaido, Japan, 2007 – © Michael Kenna

Michael Kenna furthers his approach in the darkroom, spending hours on his exquisite silver prints, shaping the photograph to match his uncompromising vision. “I want photographs to be a mystery, an interpretation, a catalyst for one’s imagination… we fill all our time up with noise and chaos, so I hope a viewer can enter into a photograph and feel the beauty of this place, the calmness, the tranquility.”

Quixote's Giants, Study 1, Campo de Criptana, Spain, 1996 – © Michael Kenna

Born in Widnes, Lancashire, England in 1953, Michael Kenna studied at the Banbury School of Art and the London College of Printing before relocating to the US in the 1980s to work with acclaimed photographer Ruth Bernhard. Since that time Kenna’s photographs have been exhibited worldwide and have appeared in more than 100 major collections including: Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., USA; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. During his expansive career, Kenna has authored over 40 photographic books covering journeys to more than 30 countries across the globe, including 2015’s Forms of Japan. The artist currently lives and works in Seattle, Washington.

View Michael Kenna's online portfolios

A limited number of SIGNED copies of several books by Michael Kenna will also be available from photo-eye Bookstore. Please note that supplies are limited.

Forms of Japan
Second Edition

Photographs by Michael Kenna. Text by Yvonne Meyer-Lohr.
Prestel, Lakewood, USA, 2015. 304 pp., 240 black and white illustrations, 11½x11"

Twenty Year Retrospective 

Second Edition

Photographs by Michael Kenna

Nazraeli Press, Tucson, USA, 2002. 172 pp., 130 duotone illustrations, 12x12"

France 

Photographs by Michael Kenna 

Nazraeli Press, Portland, USA, 2014. 312 pp., 275 illustrations

Mont St. Michel

Photographs by Michael Kenna 

Nazraeli Press, Tucson, USA, 2007. 84 pp., 64 duotone plates., 8x12" 

Images of the Seventh Day

Photographs by Michael Kenna 

Skira, New York City, USA, 2011. 272 pp., 280 duotone illustrations, 9½x11".

For more information on Michael Kenna: A Retrospective, and to purchase prints, please contact Gallery Director Anne Kelly at 505-988-5152 x 121 or anne@photoeye.com