BURTYNSKY: Extraction/Abstraction – A survey showcasing the extensive four-decade career of Edward Burtynsky
During the late 1970s, while he was studying photography in Toronto, a professor gave Edward Burtynsky a shooting assignment to explore the theme “Evidence of Man.” This comprehensive exhibition surveys the result of that prophetic class project from nearly a half century ago. It provided the core subject for someone who would eventually become one of the most celebrated photographic artists of our time.
Burtynsky’s work focuses on what he describes as “the largest-scale industrial incursions on the planet.” Through a deep historical understanding of image-making, and a mastery of the photographic medium, Burtynsky invites his viewers to look at places that exist beyond our common experience, places that satisfy our wants and needs in the present while they determine the future of our habitat.
Paired with the serious ecological concern that drives Burtynsky’s creative process is an equally compelling exploration of the strangely beautiful marks industry leaves on the canvas of the Earth. These works evoke contradictory emotions in the viewer that mirror our predicament: enchantment with the ingenuity of human progress and anxiety about its consequences.
This exhibition, BURTYNSKY: Extraction/Abstraction, is organized around a core of large-scale prints curated into five main sections: Abstraction, Agriculture, Extraction, Manufacturing & Industry, and Waste. Each section investigates a distinct aspect of Burtynsky’s practice: his sensibility, his mission and his medium respectively. Supplementary components of the show present works that have taken him well beyond the fine art print. For example, a group of ultra-high-resolution murals is presented, along with a uniquely curated and never-before-seen space called “Process Archive” which showcases Burtynsky’s technological trajectory through each of the paradigm shifts in photography. The exhibition also includes the continuous screening of In the Wake of Progress, an award-winning multimedia projection. Also included is one of Burtynsky’s unique augmented reality (AR) artworks, which is activated using the simple and free mobile-based app, AVARA Discover.