Edward Burtynsky: Uneasy Beauty
– Photographs of Western Canada

Surrey Art Gallery
Surrey BC – Jan 17–Mar 22, 2009

Edward Burtynsky is a Canadian photographer of global significance. His large-scale cinematic colour photographs are fascinating both for ecological reasons and for the staggering wealth of visual detail they capture. Portraying changes to the landscape, various series have included ship-breaking yards, urban mines, quarries and industrial refineries.

Images from Burtynsky's Manufactured Landscapes series document landscapes altered by industrial forces in British Columbia and across Canada. His photographs, taken on extensive tours across the country, compel viewers to experience awe in "the industrial mastery of nature" – mining, oil exploration, and cuts into mountains to create railways. His works demonstrate on an equally massive scale what he describes as the "reciprocal" to cities, skyscrapers, highways and industrial parks.

Burtynsky was born in St. Catharines, Ontario in 1955 and earned a BAA. in Photographic Arts from Ryerson Polytechnical University, Toronto. In 2004 he was awarded the prestigious TED Prize, which honours individuals who have raised global awareness. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in August 2006. Burtynsky's photographs are included in the collections of such major galleries as the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Gallery of Canada, Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and the V&A in London.

www.arts.surrey.ca

Mia Johnson