EAGERLY ANTICIPATING: RINKO KAWAUCHI: ILLUMINANCE: THE GALLERY AT HERMES: May 20 – July 16, 2011

Armed with her Rolleiflex camera and its square format, Kawauchi often captures the world from an almost childlike perspective

In 2001 with the simultaneous publication of three books in Japan, Hanako, Utatane, and Hanabi, Kawauchi received instant recognition. And in the 10 years since, she has constantly revisited themes of life, death and the everyday. Armed with her Rolleiflex camera and its square format, Kawauchi often captures the world from an almost childlike perspective filled with secrets and the sublime: a dead swallow, a glowing rose, a bubble. But it is the light and her singular palette that transform these subjects into something almost spiritual.

Located on the fourth floor of Hermès at 691 Madison Avenue, Rinko Kawauchi: Illuminance will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturdays (Thursdays 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.).