Michael Kenna
« À la manière des haïkus japonais, j’accorde toujours plus d’importance à la suggestion qu’à la description.
Quelques éléments suffisent à évoquer tout un univers imaginaire.
Une toute petite portion de matière tangible détient une infinité de possibilités.
Parfois, mes images sont le fruit de poses très longues, de jour comme de nuit.
La pellicule est capable d’accumuler de la lumière et d’enregistrer des événements que nos yeux sont incapables de discerner.
Cela accentue souvent l’effet dramatique; de profondes ombres apparaissent, des sources de lumières surréalistes peuvent surgir.
Les résultats sont délicieusement imprévisibles. »
Michael Kenna
La biographie
°1953, Widnes, Lancashire (Angleterre)
Vit à Seattle, Washington (USA)
En 2022, Michael Kenna a fait don de ses archives photographiques à l’État français; elles seront conservées par la Médiathèque du Patrimoine et de la Photographie (Fort de Saint-Cyr).
À cette occasion, il a été promu au rang d’Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Expositions personnelles (sélection)
2023
Japon, l’esprit et la lettre, box galerie, Bruxelles
Trees, Galerie Albrecht, Berlin
Michael Kenna – Fifty Year, Harris Harvey Gallery, Seattle, WA
New Works from Japan exhibition, SOL LDN, London
D’après nature: parc et jardins, Château de Haroué
Voghera Fotografia. River Po, Castello Visconteo, Voghera, Pavia (IT)
Timeless – 50 Years – 50 Photographs, The McQueen, Chicago, IL
Trees 1973-2023 – 50 photographs, PLACE, Portland, OR
Winter? Spring? Who Knows? Fifty-seven Japan views by Michael Kenna, Photography and Multimedia Museum, Tbilisi, Géorgie
Kenna/Catany, Confluencias, Centro Internacional de Fotografia Toni Catany, Llucmajor, Mallorca
El sentiment del paisage, Sala Parés, Barcelona
Philosopher’s Tree II, K.O.N.G. Gallery, Séoul, Corée du Sud
Arbori/Trees, Galerie 13, Reggio Emilia, Italie
Forms of Bodies, Trees and Land, Palazzo da Mosta, Reggio Emilia, Italie
La lumière de l’ombre exhibition, Musée départemental de la Résistance & de la Déportation, Toulouse, France
Une mémoire photographique, Mémorial du Camp de Rivesaltes, Rivesaltes, France
2022
Northern England 1983-1986, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, USA
Buddha, Palazzo Loredan, Venise, Italie
Buddha, Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vita, Bologne, Italie
La lumière de l’ombre: photographies des camps nazis, Mémorial de Caen, France
France and Ukraine, K.O.N.G. Gallery, Séoul, Corée du Sud
Thinking of Ukraine, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, France
From Japan to China, Timeless Gallery, Pékin, Chine
Voyage en France, Château de Rambouillet, France
Departure, Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo, Japon
Arbres / Trees, Château de Chaumont, Chaumont-sur-Loire, France
Arbres / Trees, A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans, USA
2021
Reflections, K.O.N.G. Gallery, Séoul, Corée du Sud
Nude Studies, Blue Lotus Gallery, Hong Kong
Confessionali, Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vita, Bologne, Italie
Michael Kenna, Museum Kot-Deungg, Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do, Corée du Sud
Snowland, Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, France
Il Fiume Po, Palazzo Ducale, Guastalla, Reggio Emilia, Italie
La lumière de l’ombre: photographies des camps nazis, Musée de la Résistance nationale, Champigny-sur-Marne, France
Venezia, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, USA
Northern England 1983-1986, Bosham Gallery, Bosham, Angleterre
2020
Beyond Architecture, Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo, Japon
Michael Kenna, Galerija Fotografija, Ljubljana, Slovénie
Michael Kenna, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Ocean, Islands and Michael Kenna, Sunset Art Museum, Shinan, Corée du Sud
Buddha, Ira Stehman Gallery, Munich, Allemagne
Fine Lines, Art of Foto Gallery, Saint-Pétersbourg, Russie
Il Fiume Po, Reggia di Colorno, Parme, Italie
Michael Kenna, Ginza Fugestudo, Tokyo, Japon
Japan/Buddha. Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo, Japan.
2019
Kenna by Kenna, Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo, Japon
Michael Kenna, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, USA
Rafu, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, USA
Rafu, box galerie, Bruxelles, Belgique
Holga, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Rafu, Patricia Conde Gallery, Mexico, Mexique
Suiseki Viewing Stones and Hokkaido Landscapes, Portland Japanese Gardens, Portland, USA
Rafu, Galerie Albrecht, Berlin, Allemagne
Korea – Part 1, Gallery K.O.N.G., Seoul, Corée du Sud
Rafu, Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston, USA
Rafu, Galleria 13, Reggio Emilia, Italie
45 Year Retrospective, Bosham Gallery, Bosham, Angleterre
Michael Kenna, Weston Gallery, Carmel, USA
Rafu et Oiseaux, Incisione Galeria, Brescia, Italie
2018
Michael Kenna, Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, France
Oneiros, Galeria Valid Foto, Barcelone, Espagne
Philosopher’s Tree, Blue Lotus Gallery, Hong Kong
A 45 Year Odyssey, 1973-2018, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japon
2017
Photographies récentes, Galerie Troncin-Denis, Nancy, France
El sentiment del paisage, Claustre de Sant Bonaventura, Llucmajor, Mallorca, Espagne
Confessionali and Abruzzo, Beetles and Huxley Gallery, London, Angleterre
Abruzzo, Palazzo Casamarte, Loreto Aprutino, Italie
Imprinted Times: Italie, France and Japan, Art Gallery, Seibu Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japon
The Rouge, Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, USA,
Abruzzo, Micamera, Milan, Italie
Abruzzo, Galleria delle’Incisione, Brescia, Italie
Michael Kenna, A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans, LA, USA
2016
Forms of Japan, Gallery Art Unlimited, Tokyo, Japon
Mont Saint Michel, Salle des Hôtes, Abbaye du Mont Saint Michel, France
Hokkaido, Higashikawa, Hokkaido, Japon
Forms of Japan, Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Michael Kenna, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, USA
2015
France, Musée des Beaux Arts, Nancy, Lorraine, France
L’Arbre, Troncin-Denis Gallery, Nancy, Lorraine, France
Between Mountains and Lakes, Bernheimer Gallery, Lucerne, Suisse
Forms of Japan, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Forms of Japan, box galerie, Bruxelles
Forms of Japan, Bernheimer Gallery, Lucerne, Suisse
France, Beetles and Huxley Gallery, Londres, Angleterre
2014
Journey to the East, Gallery KONG,, Séoul, Corée du Sud
Light on Asia, Bernheimer Gallery, Munich, Allemagne
Timeless Gallery, Pékin, Chine
Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australie
Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France
Retrospective, Städtische Galerie Iserlohn, Iserlohn, Allemagne
France, Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, France
2013
Memories and Meditations Part II, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, U,S,A
A Journey Through Asia, Tasveer Arts, Bangalore, Inde
Shinan and Recent Work, galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, France
Extrême-Orient, galerie box, Bruxelles
2012
Huangshan, Albrecht Gallery, Berlin, Allemagne
Asia View, 1839 Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Michael Kenna Landscapes, Molesworth Gallery, Dublin, Irlande
Focus East, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
A Decade in Review, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
2011
Michael Kenna – Retrospective, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscou, Russie
Le Souffle des Arts, Bargème, France
Venezia, Jardin Raymond VI du Musée des Abattoirs, Toulouse, France
Rebekah Jacob Gallery, Charleston, SC, USA
2010
Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Michael Kenna – Landscapes and Memory, Miyanomori Art Museum, Sapporo, Japon
Bernheimer Gallery, Munich, Allemagne
Michael Kenna – Immagini dei Settimo Giorno, Palazzo Magnani, Reggio Emilia, Italie
A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans, LA, USA
2009
Rétrospective, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Œuvres récentes, box galerie, Bruxelles
El paisaje sentido, Centro Andaluz de la Fotografia, Almeria, Espagne
Retrospective, Kushiro Art Museum, Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japon
2008
Japan, Galerie Troncin-Denis, Nancy, France
Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Nordic Light Festival, Kristiansund, Norvège
Galerie 127, Marrakech, Maroc
Museum of Tbilisi History, Tbilisi, Géorgie
Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, USA
2007
The Rouge, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Japan, Carré Amelot, La Rochelle, France
Japon, Le Bon Marché, Paris, France
Frozen Landscapes, Bernheimer Gallery, Munich, Allemagne
New York, New Work, Robery Mann Gallery, New York, New York, USA
Thirty Year Retrospective, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, Chine
2006
Le sentiment du paysage, box galerie, Bruxelles
Japan, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japon
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
2005
Michael Kenna, Salle Capitulaire, Bordeaux, France
Hackelbury Fine Art, London, Angleterre
Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA, USA
Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY
Retrospective Two, Scavi Scaligeri Museum, Vérone, Italie
2004
Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
Point Light Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, Australie
2003
Impossible to Forget, Houston Holocaust Museum, Houston, TX, USA
Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Michael Kenna – Retrospective, Tokyo Photographic Cultural Center, Tokyo, Japon
Japan, Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France
2002
Calais Lace, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais, France
Easter Island, Center for Photographic Arts, Carmel, CA, USA
Zelda Cheatle Gallery, Londres, Angleterre
2001
Night Work, Friends of Photography, San Francisco, CA
G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
2000
Il Tempo Gallery, Tokyo, Japon
Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA, USA
Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY
1999
Michael Kenna, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, USA
Hommage à Le Nôtre, Musée Jean de la Fontaine, Château Thierry, France
Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA, USA
1998
Michael Kenna, Braga Photography Festival, Braga, Portugal
L’Imagerie, Lannion, France
Michael Kenna, University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, Kentucky
1997
Esprit de Le Nôtre, Musée Promenade de Marly-le-Roi, Louveciennes, France
Robert Mann Gallery, New York
Garden and Kindergarten, Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japon
1996
The Rouge, The Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, USA
Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA, USA
A Twenty Year Retrospective, Mois de la Photographie, Musée Duffy, Nice, France
1995
Industrial Revelations – The Rouge and other sites, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
A Twenty Year Retrospective, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Châlon-sur-Saone, France
G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
1994
Galerie Zur Stockeregg, Zurich, Suisse
Michael Kenna, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
1993
Michael Kenna, International Center for Photography, New York, NY
1992
Michael Kenna – Photographs of England, Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, OH, USA
Michael Kenna, Center for Photographic Arts, Carmel, CA, USA
Hamiltons Gallery, Londres, Angleterre
1991
Galerie Michèle Chomette, Paris, France
Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA, USA
1990
Halsted Gallery, Birmingham, MI, USA
Gallery Min, Tokyo, Japon
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
1989
Folio Gallery, Calgary, Canada
Hamiltons Gallery, Londres, Angleterre
1988
Michael Kenna – Evocative Landscapes, J,B, Speed Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
The Hound of the Baskervilles, National Center for Photography, Bath, Angleterre
1987
Gallery Min, Tokyo, Japon
Michael Kenna – Landscape Photographs, Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock, Angleterre
Galerie Michèle Chomette, Paris, France
1986
Michael Kenna, California State University at Stanislaus, Stanislaus, CA, USA
1985
Michael Kenna, Madison Arts Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA, USA
The Hounds of the Baskervilles, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
1984
Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA
Images Gallery, Cincinnatti, OH, USA
Michael Kenna, The Bampton Arts Center, Bampton, Oxfordshire, Angleterre
Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
1983
Michael Kenna, Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock, Angleterre
Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ, USA
Equivalents Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
1982
Contrasts Gallery, Londres, Angleterre
JEB Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
1981
Images Gallery, Cincinnatti, Oh, USA
Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Equivalents Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
1980
Fotogalerie 48, Richmond, Surrey, Angleterre
Michael Kenna, Oxford Polytechnic Gallery, Oxford, Angleterre
Print Gallery, Carmel, CA, USA
1979
Banbury School of Art, Banbury, Oxfordshire, Angleterre
Equivalents Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA
Publications monographiques (sélection)
2023
Photographs & Stories, Nazraeli Press, USA
Hokkaido 2020, Benrido, Kyoto (portfolio de 7 collotypes)
2022
Flesh of Stone, Editions Noir, Paris
Arbres / Trees, Skira, Paris
2021
La Lumière de l’Ombre, photographies des camps Nazis, Musée de la Résistance nationale, France
St. Joseph’s College, Upholland, Prestel, Allemagne
Northern England – 1983-86, Nazraeli Press, USA
2020
Il Fiume Po, Corsiero Editore, Italie
Buddha, Prestel, Allemagne
Notre-Dame de Paris, Nazraeli Press, USA
2019
Des oiseaux, Editions Xavier Barral, Paris
Beyond Architecture, Prestel, Munich
Korea – Part 1, Gallery K.O.N.G, Séoul
RAFU, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
2018
Ikigai & other Japanese words to live by, Modern Books, Londres
A 45 Year Odyssey, RAM, Tokyo
DMZ – The 38th Parallel, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
One Sunday in Beijing, éditions Bessard, Paris
2017
HOLGA, Prestel, Munich
Huangshan: The Yellow Mountain, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
Abruzzo, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
2016
Confessionali, Reggio Emilia, Corsiero Editore
Rouge, Prestel, Munich
In Hokkaido, RAM, Tokyo
2015
Kussharo Lake Tree, coll, One Picture Book, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
Forms of Japan, Prestel, Munich
2014
France, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
Chine, Timeless Gallery, Pékin
2013
Shinan, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
A Journey Through Asia, Tasveer Arts, Bangalore
2012
In France, RAM, Tokyo, Japan
Thomas Jefferson’s Paris Walks, Arion Press, USA
Michael Kenna, Chris Beetles Fine Photographs, Londres
2011
Tranquil Morning, Gallery KONG, Corée du Sud
Philosopher’s Tree, Gallery KONG, Corée du Sud
2010
Images of the Seventh Day, Skira, Italie
In Japan (édition revue et augmentée), RAM, Japon
Huangshan, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
Immagini dei Settimo Giorno, Museo Palazzo Magnani, Italie
Venezia, Nazraeli Press, Portland, OR
Huangshan: Poems from the T’ang Dynasty, 21st Editions, USA
2009
Heiden Hotel, Nazraeli Press, Santa Fe, New Mexique
In Hokkaido, RAM, Japon
Punta Brava, LLC, USA
Michael Kenna Rétrospective, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Love in black and white, Nazraeli Press, Santa Fe, New Mexique
2007
Mont St, Michel, Nazraeli Press, Santa Fe, New Mexique
Montecito Garden, Nazraeli Press, Santa Fe, New Mexique
2006
Hokkaido, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, Arizona
In Japan – Conversation with the Land, RAM, Tokyo
2004
Ratcliffe Power Station, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
Retrospective Two, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
2003
Japan, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
Boarding School, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
Et la dentelle, Marval, Paris
2002
Easter Island, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
A Twenty Year Retrospective, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
2000
L’impossible oubli, Marval, Paris
Night Work, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
1997
Le Nôtre’s Gardens, RAM Publications, Santa Monica
Monique’s Kindergarten, Nazraeli Press, Tucson
1996
The Silverado Squatters, The Arion Press, San Francisco
1995
The Rouge, RAM Publications, San Francisco
1991
The Elkhorn Slough and Moss Landing, RAM Publications, San Francisco
1990
Michael Kenna, Min Gallery, Tokyo
1987
Nightwalk, Friends of Photography, San Francisco
1976-1986, Min Gallery, Tokyo
1985
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arion Press, San Francisco
1984
Michael Kenna Photographs, The Weston Gallery, Carmel