Untouched by postmodern play and irony, Michael Kenna has roved the world, placing his constant stamp of precise yet dreamy black-and-white photographic beauty on the most diverse landscapes and landmarks. Having subdued the Ford steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan several years ago, Kenna has now turned his attention to a subject more natural to his eye—the fabled abbey of Mont St. Michel off the coast of Brittany that he explores under every sky and at every time of day. The result as a whole is a lesson in how the same subject evokes a panoply of diverse emotional responses as it is subjected to the vicissitudes of vision and circumstance. One senses that Kenna is a dreamer who yearns to unite with the world, which always remains beyond his grasp—his most moving shot shows the abbey bathed in fog and reflected in the sea; stone become mirage. (Michael Weinstein)
Through April 19 at Catherine Edelman Gallery, 300 W. Superior, (312)266-2350.
