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Stephen Wirtz Gallery

May 26 - August 20, 2010

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49 Geary Street 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94108
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Photographs Michael Kenna, Huangshan Mountains, Study 8, Anhui, China, 2008
Michael Kenna creates exquisite black-and-white photographs that profoundly reflect on landscape and the vestiges of man’s interaction with nature. Working at daybreak and at night, with exposures that sometimes last several hours, his patient process results in images suffused with ethereal light. The meticulous printing and intimate scale of the photographs reveal images of startling beauty, in which familiar places are transformed into fantastical landscapes, seemingly absent of any human presence. Kenna has stated, “I am interested in how we interact with our environment and what we leave behind on the planet. I like to photograph traces of our past activities and try to reflect the atmospheres that remain.” This exhibition presents work from far-reaching locations around the world, and draws significantly from two recent series: Huangshan Mountains, and Venezia—each presenting subjects of historical familiarity, with antecedents in art history. This is the first exhibition of Kenna’s atmospheric studies of the Huangshan Mountains, located in the Anhui province of eastern China. The photographs capture and emulate the grandeur that have made these peaks an important inspiration for Chinese painters and poets throughout history. The selections from Kenna’s Venezia series reflect his long fascination with this spellbinding city of romance and legend, presented with his signature stillness and theatrical sensibility. A recently released publication of the same title from Nazraeli Press will be available in the gallery. Also presented in the exhibition are photographs of the Emilia Romangna and Veneto regions of Italy, created on the occasion of Kenna’s major retrospective at the Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia; new studies that revisit some of the artist’s most iconic subjects, including the Chariot of Apollo fountain at Versailles; and examples from discrete, recently completed other bodies of work, including studies of the pyramids at Giza. These, among other surprising selections, confirm Kenna’s transformative vision, his deep connection with landscape and his seemingly effortless ability to capture solitary moments among the world’s most recognizable cities and monuments. MICHAEL KENNA was born 1953 in Widnes, Lancashire, England, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon. His work is exhibited internationally and widely acclaimed, and he is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters from the Ministry of Culture, France. A major retrospective of Kenna’s work was presented at the Bibliotheque nationale de France, Paris, France in 2009.