-- Advertisement --

-- Advertisement --

Canadian Art

See It

Ed Burtynsky: Oil Boom

The Rooms, St. John’s May 7 to Aug 15 2010
Edward Burtynsky <i>Highway #1, Los Angeles, California, USA</i> 2003 © Edward Burtynsky Courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery & Hasted Hunt Kraeutler New York Edward Burtynsky Highway #1, Los Angeles, California, USA 2003 © Edward Burtynsky Courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery & Hasted Hunt Kraeutler New York

Edward Burtynsky <i>Highway #1, Los Angeles, California, USA</i> 2003 © Edward Burtynsky Courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery & Hasted Hunt Kraeutler New York

Following a well-received fall debut at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, related showings in Amsterdam and Madrid and the honour of an international book prize, “Edward Burtynsky: Oil” kicked off its much-anticipated Canadian premiere at The Rooms this month. Twelve years in the making, Burtynsky’s photographic survey on the “life cycle” of oil features more than 50 large-scale prints that address the international manufacturing, transportation and use of this key commodity, as well as its impacts on our recreation time and urban infrastructure. Even though awareness of the petroleum industry has peaked of late due to the ongoing BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, this exhibition demonstrates the central role that oil has played for decades in our daily lives, its consequences and concerns hidden in plain sight until someone comes along to reframe and highlight them for us. (Burtynsky’s own life is intimately intertwined with these factors; long before the artist set out to photograph NASCAR meets and superhighway ramps, his father worked on an automobile production line in a St. Catharine’s General Motors plant.) Accompanied by an extensive publication, as well as a Rooms group exhibition on Newfoundland’s shorelines that opens this Thursday, Burtynsky’s project should give many Canadians serious fuel for thought this summer. It will also likely continue to generate discussion in 2011, when it travels to Edmonton, Toronto, London and other locales. (9 Bonaventure Ave, St. John’s NL)

Edward Burtynsky <i>Recycling #2, Chittagong, Bangladesh</i> 2001 © Edward Burtynsky Courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery & Hasted Hunt Kraeutler New York

Edward Burtynsky Recycling #2, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2001 © Edward Burtynsky Courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery & Hasted Hunt Kraeutler New York

Edward Burtynsky <i>Oil Fields #22, Cold Lake Production Project, Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada</i> 2001 © Edward Burtynsky Courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery & Hasted Hunt Kraeutler New York

Edward Burtynsky Oil Fields #22, Cold Lake Production Project, Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada 2001 © Edward Burtynsky Courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery & Hasted Hunt Kraeutler New York

This article was first published online on May 27, 2010.

RELATED STORIES

  • Into the Wild: It’s in our Nature

    From Jack Pine to Spiral Jetty, nature has long provided compelling subject matter for artists. Now, “Into the Wild” promises to explore longstanding tensions between art and nature with work from Burtynsky, Koh, Askevold and more.

  • Edward Burtynsky: A Long, and Lengthening, Legacy

    There’s more than theatre in Stratford this summer. Those waiting on Macbeth or Three Sisters can take in a survey of works by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky only a short walk from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s site.

  • Republic: Canadian Regionalism, Redefined

    Though Newfoundland’s often seen as an idyllic vacation zone, a summer show in St. John’s aims to highlight the province’s political tensions. Leah Sandals reports that the exhibition offers a potent mix of whimsy and weight.

 

FOUNDATION NEWS

More Foundation news

ONLINE

  • Jon Rafman: Mapping Google

    Jon Rafman’s work enjoys a deservedly high profile at this year’s Contact Festival. As Saelan Twerdy observes in this review, Rafman’s stunning, and often funny, Google Street View scenes demonstrate how the Internet is making everything public, from information to intimacy.

  • Spring Auctions: Going Once, Going Twice…

    The auction record for contemporary Canadian art was broken earlier this month in New York with Christie’s $3.6 million sale of a Jeff Wall photograph. This week, Canada’s top houses head into their spring sales hoping to break more records.

  • Keren Cytter: Video Virtuoso

    “Based on a True Story” in Oakville boasts the largest North American survey to date of Keren Cytter, the Tel Aviv–born artist known as one of today’s most intriguing video practitioners. Mariam Nader reviews, finding greatest hits and unexpected delights.

  • Sovereign Acts: Painful Histories, Terrific Performances

    The history of indigenous people performing for colonial audiences inspires "Sovereign Acts,” a current Toronto group show. As Max Mosher writes, the show—featuring Lori Blondeau, Adrian Stimson and others—is both campy and contemplative.

  • Dil Hildebrand: In the Green Room

    Dil Hildebrand is one brave painter. In his new show “Back to the Drawing Board (Reprise),” he stares down the old adage that no one wants to look at a green painting, let alone buy one. There's not just one green painting here—there's a room of them.

More Online

- Advertisements -



- Advertisements -
Report a problem