Saturday, September 16, 2023, Paul Kuhn Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of prints by Canadian artist,
Takao Tanabe.Takao Tanabe is identified with the landscape of Western Canada and has made a significant contribution to the canon of Canadian art. Tanabe’s contemporary interpretations of the land create a unique visual vocabulary that places him at the forefront of painting and printmaking in Canada.
The current solo exhibition focuses on his long and complex relationship with a variety print making techniques that continually fascinate the artist. The show includes prints dating from 1967 until 2008. While some of the earlier works express an abstract language of colour and line, the exhibit focuses primarily on the artist’s landscape imagery.
1972 was a seminal year for Tanabe. He began teaching in Banff, Alberta, running the art program at The Banff School of Fine Arts. He was struck by the austere beauty of the prairie landscape and the foothills. He began in both his paintings and prints to depict landscape in a new way. What is unique in Tanabe’s prints is his ability to create a palpable sense of the land with a reduced even” radical structure”, devoid of human incident yet rich in visual detail. The images, often richly varied foregrounds dominated by vast expanses of sky, create works that are both subtle and evocative.
The exhibition date coincides with the artist’s 97th birthday. The gallery wishes to acknowledge both his renowned career and wish him continued good health for the future.