‘O Hanami - The Celebration Of Transient Beauty’ By Paul Kenny - Foreword by Francis Hodgson
‘O Hanami - The Celebration Of Transient Beauty’ By Paul Kenny - Foreword by Francis Hodgson
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We are very pleased to announce that Paul’s book has been acquired by the National Art Library (NAL) at the V&A London.
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O Hanami By Paul Kenny
'O Hanami - The Celebration Of Transient Beauty' ties together several threads of Paul Kenny’s work from 1995 through to previously unseen images made in 2018.
The unifying core being work made with scraps of natural material from his garden and the hedgerows around his home.
"Between 1995 and 1999 I made a large series of works utilising leaves picked up on walks in Scorton Woods, Lancashire. I called the work ‘Leaving’, and it formed part of my first ever London show in 1998.
In the spring of 1999 I spent three weeks in Japan on a travel grant from the Sasakawa Foundation whilst there, I witnessed the 'O Hanami'... the joyous worship of the opening of the cherry blossom. I was told the literal translation of 'O Hanami' was “flower watching “ but the poetic translation was “the celebration of transient beauty”. The phrase stuck in my head for years.
From time to time I would look at the ‘Leaving’ prints and was always reminded of their beauty and fragility. It also highlighted how much my work has moved on in relation to the media, techniques, technologies and processes I now use, while still retaining a direct line to the ideas, concerns and motifs of that early work.
The impetus that brought these threads together was a very harsh winter in Northumberland. We were completely snowed in for over three weeks around Christmas 2010 and I was forced to stick close to home – trips to the beach were out of the question for about a month. This resulted in my field of vision being restricted; I was forced to work with the world around my feet. Teasing some scraps of natural material from under the snow or from the ice in the frozen garden pond, I began making a new body of work which became the 'O Hanami' series."
The most recent works were made using material gathered on my daily dog walk from trees that were damaged during the heavy storms (Storm Ali and Bronagh September 2018)
Paul Kenny - January 2019
Foreword by Francis Hodgson
Francis Hodgson Bio
Francis Hodgson is the Professor in the Culture of Photography at the University of Brighton, the photography critic of the Financial Times, and the advisor on photographs to the Pictet Prize, the world's most important prize in photography on sustainable development. Hodgson has been a gallerist, creative director of major image archives, and head of the photographs department at Sotheby's.
Book Spec
230mm x 300mm Portrait
Litho Printed
Casebound
Thread Sewn
Cover: Printed Cover with Spot UV
Text: 88pp Heaven 42 170gsm Fine Matt Coated
End Papers: Colorplan
Edition: 500
Published: June 2019
Please note: Cover and Spreads are for illustration purposes only and may change.
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Exclusive Black + White Photography Magazine Reader Offer ⬇
Exclusive Black + White Photography Magazine Reader Offer
Paul Kenny’s ‘O Hanami’ The Celebration Of Transient Beauty Signed Book with accompanying A3 Print of ‘Leaf Map, OS 206 – 1996’
Normal cost £150 but just £95 with exclusive Black + White Photography Reader Offer Code (Available from Midnight 19/09/19)
(Discount code available from B+W Photography Magazine)
‘Leaf Map, OS 206 – 1996’ is the Cover image of my recently published casebound photobook.
This image was in my first ever London solo show at Purdy Hicks Gallery in spring 1998.
At the time, I was playing with how to pack a simple image with layers of ideas over and above the overriding thought of.. “look closely at this leaf isn’t it beautiful“
I was making imaginary maps, seeing roads and field patterns in the leaf surface. The title refers to the Ordinance Survey maps which were pored over before my early trips to Scotland and the islands. The series went from 1 at Lands End to 205
in the Shetlands. OS 206 was an imaginary addition to the series.
It’s a milestone image for me. It got a lot of attention and that in turn gave me confidence and belief that I could continue to plough
my own furrow and make work as my eye and thoughts took me.
Silver print copies went into some great art collections including Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.
This is an exclusive edition of just Fifty archival pigment prints on Hahnemühle cotton rag, personally signed, titled and dated and embossed with my studio mark.
Paul Kenny - August 2019
*Prints are made to order so please allow a few days for delivery.
EDITION INFORMATION
Standard Edition:
Book Only
£40 Plus P&P
Limited to 400 x copies
Special Edition 1:
Signed Book
Slip Case
1 x Print (See image below)
Print info:
Size: A3
Hahnemuhle Cotton Rag 310gsm
Signed, Numbered and Blind Stamped by Paul Kenny
£150 Plus P&P
Limited to 150
Special Edition 2:
Signed Book
Slip Case
3 x Prints (See slideshow below for images that you will receive as Prints)
Print info:
Size: A3
Hahnemuhle Cotton Rag 310gsm
Signed, Numbered and Blind Stamped by Paul Kenny
£350 Plus P&P
Limited to 50
Special Edition 3:
Signed Book
Slip Case
3 x Prints (See slideshow below for images that you will receive as prints)
Print info:
Size: A3
Hahnemuhle Cotton Rag 310gsm
Signed, Numbered and Blind Stamped by Paul Kenny
1 x Set of Original Used Printing Plates (CMYK - 4 x Plates) actually used to print Paul’s book
Press Pass - Visit Printers to watch Paul’s book on Press (approx. 2.5hrs on site)
Lunch with Paul Kenny (On Paul!)
£750 Plus P&P
Limited to 1
