Edward Burtynsky - Photographs New York Saturday, April 9, 2011 | Phillips

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  • Literature

    Steidl, Burtynsky: China, pp. 100-101

  • Catalogue Essay

    When Edward Burtynsky turned his attention to China in 2000, it seemed a natural continuation of the photographs he had been creating for over twenty years. Universally termed "industrial landscapes," his images focus on the environmental and cultural impact of Man-made technologies. As we see in the present lot, Burtynsky unearths a beauty in his subjects, striking a nuanced balance between the harsh objectivity of the works' documentarian context and the finesse of contemporary art photography.

  • Artist Biography

    Edward Burtynsky

    Canadian • 1955

    Universally termed 'industrial landscapes', Edward Burtynsky's photographs are rooted in the complex, symbiotic and, at times, destructive relationship we have with the earth. In depicting his subjects, Burtynsky balances an exacting, documentarian objectivity with a breathtakingly finessed beauty. His oversized works, whose subjects include quarries in Vermont, shipyards in China and oil refineries in Canada, have a sense of grandiosity and monumentality. There is an initial visual appeal of vibrant colors, details and scale; however, on closer inspection, the environmental dilemma unfolds. They are introspective and meditative, capturing a 'contemplative moment' where landscapes provide visual and emotional resonance.

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180

Manufacturing # 10 a & b, Cankun Factory, Xiamen City, China

2005
Digital color coupler diptych.
Each 39 1/2 x 49 1/2 in. (100.3 x 125.7 cm); overall 42 x 104 in. (106.7 x 264.2 cm).
Each signed in ink, printed title, date and number on labels affixed to the reverse of the mounts. One from an edition of 9.

Estimate
$25,000 - 35,000 

Sold for $47,500

Photographs

9 April 2011
New York