CHICAGO | Kazuhito Tanaka: Picture(s)

DOCUMENT Chicago is delighted to present a solo exhibition by Kazuhito Tanaka, opening on Friday, June 12. In _Picture(s)_, Tanaka continues his exploration of the convergence of painting and photography across over a dozen mixed media works: equally formed by abstract paintings and collages made of torn chromogenic photographs, the works in the exhibition suggest a series of dialogues from their two distinct materialities. On a first level and despite the differences in media, both portions of the plane are arranged through layering, variations of size and color, as well as flat and bulky applications. At this level, an initial conversation on resemblance/difference, followed by color, is established. Beyond material properties, the juxtaposition of two media with densely packed histories maintains a dialogue that is relevant to this day, yet it does so free of its characteristic tensions. Additionally, each work offers a commentary on the latency of an image, on its potential to reveal itself to viewers through different registers of opacity. Are the vivid photographic effects of chromogenic prints the inspiration behind the paintings? Or, quite the contrary, are the collages attempting to follow and mimic the paintings’ unique rhythm? In this relationship of equals, the answer could simply be “both.”