Michael Kenna: New Work | MONOVISIONS - Black & White Photography Magazine

MonoVisions Black & White Photo Contest 2025

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.

There will be an opening reception on Friday, July 8, from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. The artist will be in attendance signing copies of his new book, Forms of Japan.

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.

Michael Kenna
New Work
July 8 – September 2, 2016

Catherine Edelman Gallery
300 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60654
edelmangallery.com