New Pictures: Noriko Furunishi

This fall the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) will launch two new series exploring contemporary photography. The first is a semi-annual exhibition program, titled "New Pictures," that is dedicated to featuring innovative photography by emerging artists from around the world. The initial "New Pictures" exhibition will open on September 17, 2009, with a dramatic installation of monumental landscapes by Noriko Furunishi. The other new initiative is the Arnold Newman Lecture series, featuring leading contemporary photographers discussing issues in the medium today. Paul Graham will present the first in the series.

"This is an exciting and transitional moment in the history of photography," said David E. Little, head of The Department of Photography and organizing curator for these series at the MIA. "Both the 'New Pictures' exhibitions and the Arnold Newman Lecture Series will provide audiences with the opportunity to explore this moment in all of its complexity. The MIA programs will introduce audiences to challenging photographs by leading artists and to the latest discussions about photography. Both series show the MIA's dedication to bringing art from diverse, contemporary cultures to the public."

"New Pictures: Noriko Furnishi" Presented each fall and spring, the "New Pictures" series highlights the vital experimentations in photography and new media undertaken by artists who grapple with making images that address contemporary culture. These exhibitions will be distinguished by their dual focus on presenting cutting-edge, artists from around the world, and by helping audiences understand and explore the art-making process. The inaugural exhibition of works by Furunishi will be the artist's first solo museum exhibition, and will run through January 30, 2010.

Born in Japan and living in Los Angeles, Furunishi uses a large-format 4 x 5 camera to make images of a particular geographical site from multiple perspectives. After scanning the negatives from these images, she digitally stitches them together to create seemingly continuous landscapes, some of which measure over seven feet tall and five feet wide. The vertical orientation of her photographs recalls the complex formal compositions of historical Chinese and Japanese hanging scroll paintings, and provide a contemporary perspective on the MIA's renowned Asian collection.

To complement the exhibition, the MIA is launching a "New Pictures" Web site that includes a video interview with the artist about her work, short essays by the curator of the exhibition, and an interactive blog. The Web site will not only generate discussion about the show during the exhibition, but also serves as an ongoing archive of the "New Pictures" series, with information on the art and installation for future historians. Users can find it at http://www.artsmia.org. Generous support for the "New Pictures" series is provided by H.B. Fuller.

New Pictures: Noriko Furunishi