Renowned Canadian photographic artist and filmmaker Edward Burtynsky has taken over two vast floors at London’s Saatchi Gallery to present Extraction/Abstraction, the largest exhibition of his 40 year career. His remarkable photographs and films of global industrial landscapes represent his dedication to bearing witness to the impact of humans have had on the planet.
The blockbuster photography exhibition is curated by Marc Mayer, former Director of the National Gallery of Canada and Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. It features 94 of Burtynsky’s large-format photographs as well as 13 high-resolution murals and an augmented reality (AR) experience. The exhibition is organised into five main sections: Abstraction, Agriculture, Extraction, Manufacturing & Industry, and Waste.
Burtynsky’s photographs and films are awe-inspiring, beautiful and often painterly but they also show how humanity impacts the planet and the environmental consequences of industrial processes. The examples are both arresting and shocking: severe erosion caused by mining in the Ankara Province in Turkey; a river turned lurid orange caused by nickel tailings from mining in Sudbury, Canada; damage created by the oil industry in the Niger Delta, Nigeria; and wrecked ships just left to decay in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Burtynsky invites 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. In addition to the art, visitors can see the fascinating “Process Archive,” featuring Burtynsky’s journals, cameras and equipment tracing his navigation through each of the technological shifts in the photography that have occurred over recent decades.
A presentation of Burtynsky’s most ambitious project to date, the European premiere of Burtynsky’s multimedia piece In the Wake of Progress. This 22-minute experience, co-produced by legendary music producer Bob Ezrin (known for his work with Pink Floyd, Andrea Bocelli, Peter Gabriel, and many others), immerses the viewer in the story of human industry’s impact on Earth, told through artistry and scale, urging us to rethink our legacy and seek a more sustainable future. Forty years in the making, In the Wake of Progress combines the most powerful photographs and film footage of Burtynsky’s career, choreographed to a compelling award-winning original score.
In addition to enjoying the mastery behind the arresting images, the exhibition can be viewed as yet another environmental wakeup call to change our ways. As Edward Burtynsky says: “I have spent over 40 years bearing witness to the ways in which modern civilization has dramatically transformed our planet. At this time, the awareness of these issues presented by my large format images has never felt more urgent.”
Edward Burtynsky’s photographs are included in the collections of over 80 major museums around the world including the New Orleans Museum of Art & Contemporary Art Center, Louisiana; the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.; and the National Gallery of Canada. Burtynsky was also a key production figure in the award-winning documentary trilogy Manufactured Landscapes (dir. Jennifer Baichwal, 2006), Watermark (dir. Baichwal and Burtynsky, 2013), and ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch (dir. Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Burtynsky, 2018). All three films continue to play in festivals around the world.
Burtynsky: Extraction/Abstraction until 6 May 2024, Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY Opening Hours: Daily 10 AM – 6 PM Tickets: Adults £19.50
A special preview of the Saatchi exhibition will be at Outernet, next to Tottenham Court Road station until 3 March
Edward Burtynsky — New Works is at Flowers Gallery, London W1, until 6 April 2024