Vincent Borrelli, Bookseller

Michael Kenna: Rafu, Special Slipcased Limited Edition (Artist's Proof) [SIGNED]

KENNA, Michael

Publisher: Paso Robles, California: Nazraeli Press, 2019
Edition: 1st Edition
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781590054987
Condition: As New / No dust jacket as issued
Item #: 113361

$250.00

Specifics

First edition, first printing. Special slipcased limited edition (artist's proof copy) signed and noted "AP" in pencil on the title page by Kenna. Soft cover. This exquisitely produced book is housed (removable) in a purple silk-covered Japanese-style hand-made three-sided hinged case, with the title printed on a white label pasted down on the front cover. The book and case are presented in a custom grey cardboard slipcase (with a matching printed title pasted on the front). Photographs and text (in English and Japanese) by Michael Kenna. Includes a list of notes to the plates. Case size is 12 x 8 inches. Unpaginated (64 pp.), with 42 duotone plates, beautifully printed on uncoated Japanese art paper. Published to coincide with a major retrospective exhibition of Michael Kenna’s photographic work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photographic Art. The first printing of the book was limited to 1000 copies, including 150 numbered slipcased limited edition copies (+10 AP copies of which this is one).

Condition

As New in As New folio and slipcase.

Description

From the publisher: "Nazraeli Press is pleased to announce the publication of Kenna’s Japanese nude studies, entitled Rafu. Beautifully printed on uncoated Japanese art paper, and hand-bound in deep purple silk, this gorgeous artist’s book presents 42 images from the Rafu series.

For over thirty years, Michael Kenna has photographed temples, shrines, gardens, seascapes and landscapes, in black and white, throughout Japan. Ten years ago, he also began to photograph female nudes in various locations in Japan. A selection of these photographs were unveiled to the public for the first time at Paris Photo in November 2018.

The Japanese women who modeled were actresses, dancers, office workers, photographers and yoga practitioners. “Their willingness to express themselves in front of the camera and their trust in my integrity as a photographer, enabled us to engage in creative visual explorations and conversations”, says Kenna. “The human body is an absolutely amazing, mysterious miracle in a myriad of ways”, adds the British photographer. “I view both historical and contemporary creative representations of the nude as open invitations to explore this esthetic challenge. My efforts may add little or nothing to the enormous existing mountain of artistic treasures, but that is not important. This is another chapter in an ongoing story”.

Rafu was published to coincide with a major retrospective exhibition of Michael Kenna’s photographic work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photographic Art."