Alison Bradley Projects is pleased to announce KUNIÉ SUGIURA, an intimate survey curated by Pauline Vermare.

Kunié Sugiura (b. Nagoya, 1942) moved to the United States in 1963 at the age of 20 to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). As the only student specializing in photography, Sugiura was quick to realize the potential of the medium, pushing its boundaries and questioning its very essence.

This exhibition traces Sugiura’s nearly six-decade practice, beginning with her Cko series, produced as a third-year student at SAIC. These photographs demonstrate her burgeoning interest in surface and abstraction. Using traditional tools of photography- models, a camera, and chromogenic printing, Sugiura began to explore the possibilities of photography beyond the image. With this series, Sugiura began a career in which she has continued to broaden the denition of what a photograph can be.

Upon her graduation from SAIC in 1967, Sugiura moved to New York, where she lives and works to this day. It was during this period that she began her “photocanvases” and, subsequently, her “photo-paintings.” With these works, Sugiura delves into her a

Kunié Sugiura (b. Nagoya, 1942) was born and raised in Japan. After briey studying science in Tokyo, she moved to the United States to study photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She received her BFA in 1967.

During the 1970s, Sugiura’s practice combined photography with acrylic paint on canvas. Her photo-paintings remain some of her most seminal works. In the 1980s, she began creating photograms using objects from everyday life including owers, plants, animals, which led her to create her famous Artist and Scientist series that depict the silhouettes of luminaries such as Yayoi Kusama, Jasper Johns, Carolee Schneemann, or Dr. James Watson.

Sugiura’s work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide. Her works can be found in prestigious private collections, museums and cultural institutions, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; the Princeton University Art Museum; the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach; the Denver Art Museum; the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography; Tochigi Prefecture Museum of Art; Hiroshima MOCA, Hiroshima; the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; and the Tate Modern, London.

Sugiura lives and works in Chinatown, New York City.