NEWS HUB

Will the Standing Whale withstand the wind? Western University model testing a unique art piece inside WindEEE

Reta Ismail
CTV News London

A collaboration between world-renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, Queen’s University, and Western University, is working to realize a new art piece titled ‘Standing Whale.’

A 3D printed stainless steel scale model is being put to the test inside the Wind Engineering, Energy, and Environment Research Institute (WindEEE RI) in London, Ont.

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Whale of a job: Western's wind tunnel puts unique sculpture to the test

By Beatriz Baleeiro
The London Free Press

A model of what will be a massive sculpture of a blue whale skeleton by a Canadian photographer and artist is being tested at Western University’s wind dome.

The Standing Whale, conceptualized by Edward Burtynsky, is envisioned as a life-sized sculpture, part of Burtynsky’s portrayal of the impact of human industry on the planet.

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Edward Burtynsky's photos are stunning — but do they move people to take environmental action?

By Lauren Sproule
CBC News

On the second floor of the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in West London, small circular splotches of ruby, slate and marigold fill a large framed print hanging on the wall.

Passersby from a photography group remark that it looks like the work of 19th-century Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. But it's not a Klimt. In fact, it's not even a painting.

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Edward Burtnysky on climate crisis: 'We should be screaming fire… but we're rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic'

By Bethany Minelle
Sky News

Landscape photographer Edward Burtynsky's work explores human impact on the surface of the planet, shooting the Coast mountains in the Canadian province of British Columbia, soil erosion in Turkey, and coal mines in Australia for his latest exhibition, New Works.

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In conversation with Edward Burtynsky: the impact of people and industry on nature

De Donkere Kamer Podcast

Welcome to De Donkere Kamer, the podcast where we delve deeper into the world of art, photography and creativity. In this episode we have a special guest: Edward Burtynsky. We delve into his fascinating journey as a photographer, entrepreneur and environmentalist. From his first steps into the photography world to his groundbreaking projects around the world, Burtynsky shares his insights and experiences. We also discuss his latest exhibition about water that we are organizing in Knokke next summer, which is in line with his mission to increase awareness about climate change. Grab your headphones and join us as we chat with this inspiring renowned photographer.

Listen to the episode here.

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Major London Photography Exhibition By Edward Burtynsky Reveals Human Impact On The Planet

By Joanne Shurvell
Forbes

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.

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Inside the Edward Burtynsky Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery

By Irenie Forshaw
Elite Traveler

At first glance, it’s hard to figure out exactly what you’re looking at when confronted with one of Edward Burtynsky’s works. The large-scale pieces appear almost like abstract paintings: strikingly beautiful canvases streaked with colorful paint splatters and geometric patterns. Look closer, though, and you’ll see they are, in fact, breathtakingly detailed photographs of plundered landscapes. From the diamond mines of Botswana to the salt pans of India, every image delves into the (often devastating) impact of human activity on the planet.

I’ve come to the Saatchi Gallery for the Canadian photographer’s largest-ever exhibitionBURTYNSKY: Extraction/ Abstraction. Running through May 6, 2024, the show is set across two floors of the gallery and features 94 of his photographs, alongside a collection of murals and an augmented reality experience.

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Edward Burtynsky at the Saatchi Gallery — awesome beauty of a ravaged planet

By Rachel Halliburton
Financial Times

The photographer’s spectacular images, on show in London, document the effects of human activity on the natural world.

Edward Burtynsky’s disturbingly beautiful photography brings a giant’s eye view to our ravaged planet, rendering mining sites as glimmering jewel boxes, desertscapes as geometric puzzles and dumping grounds as Jackson Pollock-like eruptions of chaos and colour. This fascinating exhibition covers his journey of more than 40 years — hanging out of Cessna planes, elevated by cranes and latterly deploying drones — to document the way large-scale industry and agriculture have impacted on the natural world.

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Edward Burtynsky on climate, abstraction, and hanging photos like paintings

By Ravi Ghosh
British Journal of Photography

Edward Burtynsky is standing in front of the most ambitious and labour-intensive photograph he has ever made. It is a blanket of golf-ball sized orbs and growths in pink, orange, green and brown, unfurling across an entire wall in London’s Saatchi Gallery.

Pengah Wall #1 is an underwater photograph – or rather, a digital image composed of around 200 individual shots – made off the coast of Komodo Island in Indonesia in 2017. Burtynsky stands back slightly and admires the coral, its fleshy, sprouting texture lending a sense of alien vitality. He mentions the work of painter Jackson Pollock; the idea was to emulate the motion and energy of his canvases in the image. “Abstract Expressionism was one of the things I loved in 20th-century art,” the Canadian photographer says. “That there is no singular central point in the images, and their all-overness, texture and modulation – the whole surface has been considered.”

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Edward Burtynsky: Unveiling the Impact of Industrialization Through Lens at London's Saatchi Gallery

By Sakchi Khandelwal
BNN

The 'Burtynsky: Extraction/Abstraction' exhibition at London's Saatchi Gallery captures the profound impact of human activities on Earth through over 90 large-format photographs. Edward Burtynsky's art reveals the abstract beauty and unsettling truths of industrialization, urging visitors to reflect on their ecological footprint and consider sustainable futures.

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Edward Burtynsky: 'Abstraction/Extraction'

TimeOut London

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All the things that make modern life tick – the mines for our batteries, the farms for our food, the abattoirs for our meat – are kept secret, out of view because they lay bare the damage we’re doing to the planet. Burtynsky’s vast, mega-scale photographs here at the Saatchi Gallery (there’s a concurrent, free, smaller show of his work at Flowers Gallery too) drag those private shames out into the open. He photographs salt marshes carving up the Spanish coastline, gold mines spilling cyanide into the Johannesburg’s groundwater, circular crops sucking Saudi Arabia’s aquifers dry, diamond mines leaking toxic waste into the hills of South Africa.

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Galerie Springer — Edward Burtynsky : African Studies

By Noémie de Bellaigue
The Eye of Photography

The Berlin gallery presents a selection from series by the Canadian photographer produced on the African continent. Aerial views of breathtaking pictorial power which bear witness to the effects of industrial expansion on African landscapes while celebrating those still preserved from human exploitation.

How can we measure the impact of human activity on our planet, other than through data? How can we represent the damage caused by industrial activity, other than through images of devastation? How can we talk about Africa today other than through poverty?

For seven years, from 2015 to 2020, Edward Burtynsky explored ten African countries from the air – the aerial point of view being, according to him, the most powerful scale to reveal the immensity of his subject.

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Catch-up from September 20, 2023: The exhibition The abstract landscape and the novel The Uncanny Valley

Il restera toujours la culture
Radio-Canada

Elsa Pépin, Audrey Martel, Heather et Arizona O'Neil proposent des suggestions littéraires; Mara Joly parle de la série Après le déluge; Marianne Desautels-Marissal et Émile Roy ont vu l'exposition Le paysage abstrait, d'Edward Burtynsky; L'écrivaine J.D. Kurtness revient sur son livre, La vallée de l'étrange.

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How Edward Burtynsky's industry roots shape his perspective on art

CBC The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay

After more than 40 years photographing the industrial sublime around the world, Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky's new project brings him home to St. Catharines, Ont. He's taking an abandoned relic – a 68,000-kilogram sheet metal forge from the former General Motors auto plant, where both Burtynsky and his father worked – and turning it into a sculpture memorializing the industry and people that once drove life in his hometown. He joins Chattopadhyay to talk about his upbringing, the resource industries that define his career and his ongoing work to make his audience connect his beautiful images to the rapid destruction of our planet.

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Edward Burtynsky, el fotógrafo del Antropoceno

By Brenda Chávez
Rockdeluxe

Es una leyenda de la fotografía por haber documentado como nadie antes el efecto de la actividad humana sobre nuestro frágil planeta. Parte de su trabajo en países de África subsahariana, la exposición “African Studies”, puede visitarse en el espacio madrileño CentroCentro, dentro del festival PHotoEspaña, hasta el 1 de octubre. Hablamos con él sobre su implicación como artista entusiasta que observa todo lo que lo rodea como un dedicado guardián del medio ambiente.

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How Edward Burtynsky Shows Us Who We Are

By Casey Beal
BESIDE Magazine

Edward Burtynsky’s award-winning, large-scale photographs illuminate the environmental cost and alarming beauty of human intervention in natural landscapes. We spoke with him about his artistic influences, human responsibility for the planet, and the great grief behind it all.

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Bob Ezrin wants you to rethink consumer culture

By Chris Dart
CBC Arts

The super-producer's collaboration with Edward Burtynsky looks at humanity's impact on the world around us.

Ezrin is the co-producer of In the Wake of Progress, an immersive short film based on the 40 year career of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. (The other co-producer is Burtynsky himself.) The film, which looks at the effects of resource extraction around the world, made its debut last year, and is currently the centrepiece of a Burtynsky exhibition called Le paysage abstrait, on now at Montreal's Arsenal Contemporary Art gallery.

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