By Matt Growcoot
PetaPixel
Photographer Edward Burtynsky has spent his career capturing stunning large format photographs that — despite their beauty — actually show the damage that’s being done to the planet.
His incredible photographs are currently on exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London where he is making use of large format by displaying enormous prints of his arresting work.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy Tabish Khan
FAD Magazine
Tabish Khan the @LondonArtCritic picks his Top 5 Art Exhibitions to see in London Post-Easter. Each one comes with a concise review to help you decide whether it’s for you. If you’re looking for museum exhibitions to visit, check out last week’s top 5 where all three remain open to visit.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy Helen Gordon
Apollo Magazine
Crawford Lake is around an hour’s drive from Toronto, home of the photographer Edward Burtynsky. Scientists studying sediment layers in the lake have found samples of plutonium from hydrogen bomb tests, carbon particles from fossil fuel burning and nitrates from the mass application of chemical fertilisers. Some want the lake to become an international reference point marking the dawn of the Anthropocene – the period when the human species began to alter the planet irrevocably, becoming a geological force comparable to immense volcanic eruptions or the variations in the Earth’s orbit that drive glacial cycles.
Like these scientists, Burtynsky has long been fascinated by the effects of large-scale human activity on the landscape, especially industry and agriculture. His Anthropocene series (2012–17) and accompanying documentary of 2018 did much to popularise the term beyond the scientific community, and ‘Abstraction/Extraction’ – his sumptuous, thoughtful new retrospective at the Saatchi Gallery – continues this line of inquiry.
Read the full review here.
Read MoreBy Maria Shollenbarger
FT How to Spend It
Where to focus, from Berlin to San Francisco.
Check out the full list here.
Read MoreReta 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.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreDe 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.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy 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 exhibition – BURTYNSKY: 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.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read the full review here.
Read MoreBy 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.”
Read the full interview here.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read the full review here.
Read MoreTimeOut 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.
Read the full review here.
Read MoreBy 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.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreIl 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.
Listen to the episode here.
Read More