No. 83: Brian Kanagaki
Presence, a photo series from atop a hill, his grandfather's lighter, capturing the little items stored away, and Doldrums.
Brian Kanagaki is a photographer based in Red Hook, Brooklyn, originally from Vacaville, a small town in Northern California. His work is rooted in repetition, iteration, and presence – his process slow and deliberate, shaped by both structure and openness. Brian’s dad often said that objects deserve respect, and if cared for, will offer joy over time – a sentiment carried through both his photography and way of seeing. His images preserve and honor not only the people, places, and objects around him, but moments themselves. Even just a walk through the park. From Brian –
I. a reason to be present
Being present is a huge part of my creative practice. Walking and looking is my favorite thing to do, the little things you notice when paying attention to light and your surroundings is always inspiring. After my father passed away my mom told me to keep an eye out for dimes. She told me that finding a dime is a message from a loved one who has passed away. Some believe it means someone is thinking of you, or that you are on the right path.
After she told me this, I found a $20 bill on the ground 3 weeks in a row. I started displaying them on a photo of my dad working on a car as a reminder to keep being present and look for blessings.
II. a place
The hill that overlooks my hometown and neighborhood that I grew up in.
I’ve been photographing this area for years now and hope to make a book about it one day. Trying to focus on this as a 10 year project, documenting how the town and land changes.
III. a beloved object
My grandfather's lighter.
IV. a collection or two
I have so many bags and boxes in my studio full of little items that I think I might need later on. I never actually need any of this stuff so in an attempt to clear out all this junk I have been photographing and documenting all the random bags with items that were at one point important.
I first started photographing these items when I was home last christmas. All of these items are someone else’s little collections that got forgotten and put into another box.
Some of these items that I found and saved ended up turning into some of my favorite still lifes that I have made.
V. a book
My new book, Doldrums. Photographs made in the San Francisco, Bay Area between 2019 – 2024.
BULLETIN
Los Angeles
On view: Cataclysm: The 1972 Diane Arbus Retrospective Revisited opens tonight at David Zwirner. Rosy Keyser’s ultraUMWELT opens Saturday at Parrasch Heijnen. Group show Play opens Saturday at Morán Morán. Group show A Record of Temporary Condition at opens Saturday at Clearing. Group show Roots Unseen at Nicodim Annex and Ian Davis’ God’s Eye View at Nicodim open Saturady. Kenji Ide’s The Time of a Shadow at Matthew Brown. Carolyn Salas’ Night Vision at The Hole. Group show Taking Care at Hannah Hoffman. Xiao Jiang’s By The Window at Karma. Jim Mangan’s The Crick at Sea View. John Divola’s Strange Resemblance at Chateau Shatto. Caroline Absher’s The Silver Cord at Journal. Alex Becerra’s Pyschomania at Wilding Cran. Zaam Arif’s Lost Time at Night Gallery. Selected Works (1986-2019) of Young-Il Ahn at Perrotin. Katherine Berhardt’s Sidewalk Chalk at David Zwirner. What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999 at The Getty. Rachel Jones’ Dark-Pivot and group show with works by Naotaka Hiro, Elliott Hundley, Tadáskía at Regen Projects. Residency and exhibition of live drawings by Drake Carr at Megan Mulrooney. Robert Russell’s Stateless Objects and group show Scratches of Film at Anat Ebgi. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Photographs at Webber. Emilie Louise Gossiaux’s Votives at Castle. Brenna Youngblood’s R.A..D…I..O. at Roberts Projects. Cy Twombly at Maison D’Art. David Hammons’ Concerto in Black and Blue at Hauser & Wirth. Issy Wood’s Wet and Reckless at Michael Werner. Tschabalala Self’s Dream Girl at Jeffrey Deitch. Moment Eternal commemorating Alice Coltrane at The Hammer. Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men at The Getty.
New York
On view: Ludmilla Balkis’ Grasp the Mountains, Then Let Them Go opens tonight at Guild. Yu Nishimura’s Clearing Unfolds opens tonight at David Zwirner. Group show Deviations opens tonight at James Fuentes. Caitlin Longan’s Gems and Roses opens tonight at Broadway. Mary Heilmann’s Breaking Waves opens Saturday night at 303. Flower Beneath the Foot, a collection of rugs by Madeline Weinrib and Rene Ricard, featured alongside lighting by Dana Arbib and Simone Bodmer-Turner at Emma Scully. Group show Couch Paintings at Canada. Antonia Kuo’s Milk of the Earth and Joan Nelson’s New Mountains at Chapter NY. Picasso: Tête-à-tête at Gagosian. Yuri Yuan’s Hide and Seek at Alexander Berggruen. Armando Reveron: Prisoner of the Air at Andrew Edlin. Claes Oldenburg and Peter Moore’s New York Streets and Signs at Paula Cooper. Malick Sidibé’s Regardez-moi at Jack Shainman. Jack Whitten: The Messenger at MoMa. Vintage20: Design for Living, curated by Adam Charlap Hyman, at Tina Kim Gallery. Chloe West’s Games of Chance and Lizabeth Mitty’s Sapphire Pass at Harpers. Joe Brainard: Love Nancy at Craig Starr. The Human Situation with works by Maria Marcus, Alice Neel, and Sylvia Sleigh at Lévy Gorvy Dayan. Marcus Scarpi’s Flexible Work Ethics at Amanita. Sarah Miska and Carla Edwards’ Twist to Strengthen and works by Rosa Loy and Kathy Ruttenberg at Lyles & King. Woman on a Balcony at Sargent’s Daughters. Lotus L. Kang’s Already at 52 Walker. Louise Nevelson’s Collection View at The Whitney. Xi Li’s To Put an Image in Front of the Thing at Latitude. Robert Morris’ Seeing and Space at Castelli. Helena Foster’s Time Honored at Kasmin. Timothy Lai’s Still Yet Still and group show Out of Flame at Jack Barrett. Erin Morris’ 5-7 Business Days at Europa. Eiko G.’s Closer Look at Harkawik. Caroline Walker’s The Holiday Park at Grimm. Fa Razavi’s Opera Rose at Palo. Chis Lipomi’s On the Occasion Of… at Galerie Timonier. Aaron Angell, for Troy Town, and Cadis’ RITES OF SPRING at TIWA. Elizabeth Ravn’s Forecast at David Peter Francis. Dustin Hodges’ Barley Patch at 15 Orient. Robert Zehnder’s Resurrection and Felix De Clercq’s Friends and Lovers at Clearing. Group show Landline with works by Leonard Baby, Bernie Kaminski, Karyn Lyons, and Gösta Peterson at Turn. Christian Marclay’s The Clock, Vital Signs:Artists and the Body, and Pirouette: Turning Points in Design at MOMA.
Affection Archives is a weekly look into the affections of yours truly (Arielle Eshel) & people I admire.
Wow. I loved these photographs and Brian's musings so much. The series of objects so delicately photographed just took my breathe away. My mother-in-law did this with things before she threw them out and I find it so profound, the capturing of what is no longer used or needed, or wanting to be stored. That first photograph of the woman's back on the park bench took my breathe away, and I continued to read this breathless.