{"id":48128,"date":"2021-11-25T13:16:49","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T18:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=48128"},"modified":"2021-11-25T14:12:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T19:12:17","slug":"edward-burtynsky-sebastiao-salgado-at-metivier-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=48128","title":{"rendered":"Edward Burtynsky & Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado at Metivier Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like you just can\u2019t look away!\u201d I overheard a visitor exclaim as she moved to get a better look at one of the photos in the Edward Burtynsky & Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado<\/em> exhibit at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery. It\u2019s true, both Burtynsky\u2019s and Salgado\u2019s photos are captivating and present beautiful\u2014if unsettling\u2014images of the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burtynsky and Salgado are long-time friends and colleagues, who have both spent their careers photographing the natural world. This exhibit features images from both of their newest series\u2014three from Burtynsky\u2019s series depicting the industrialization of Africa<\/em>, and five from Salgado\u2019s newest series Amaz\u00f4nia<\/em>, portraying the landscapes and inhabitants of the Amazonian rainforest in Brazil. While Burtynsky\u2019s prints are large, abstract, and burst with colour, Salgado\u2019s smaller black and white prints draw viewers into ethereal landscapes and rituals of Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Installation views with works by Edward Burtynsky (left) & Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado (right) at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery. Photo: Jennifer Boothby<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burtynsky is based in Toronto, but has travelled the world producing aerial images of human interventions in the landscape, namely infrastructure and resource extraction. His work is characterized by abstract aerial views, which are often brightly coloured, highly detailed, and employ an innovative use of scale. By portraying the landscape from above\u2014photographing from helicopters, planes, or drones\u2014Burtynsky is able to capture the large-scale impacts of human activity on the planet. At the same time, his images are incredibly detailed, and capture the minute textures of the landscape, which draw viewers in and ground the otherwise surreal photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most captivating aspect of Burtynsky\u2019s work is the tension between the beauty of his photos, and the environmental destruction presented. The vibrant colours and textures that make his work so engaging are often results of mining and fossil fuel production, which makes his work somewhat unsettling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tension between visual beauty and environmental destruction is evident in Burtynsky\u2019s striking Sulfur Springs #2<\/em>, which shows a sulfur spring in Dallol, Ethiopia\u2014one of the hottest locations on earth. On first glance, the print appears abstract\u2014due to the aerial view and large scale\u2014however, there is clearly an encounter between the natural and the unnatural. Viewers\u2019 eyes are immediately drawn to the vibrant chemical hues of yellow, brown, and green, that seem to creep up from the bottom of the photo and encroach on the pristine blue water above. The vivid colours are as unsettling as they are beautiful. Specifically, the bright yellow colour\u2014though likely due to salt and sulfur deposits\u2014evokes toxicity and looks like a chemical spill bleeding into the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This print also features the incredible detail that characterizes much of Burtynsky\u2019s work. Examining the photo up close, I was captivated by the lush visual textures. An intricate network of fissures run through the rock, and small rounded shapes, resembling coral, dance across the edges of the photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edward Burtynsky, Sulfur Springs #2<\/em>, Dallol, Danakil Depression, Ethiopia, 2018, pigment inkjet print on Kodak Professional Photo Paper, 48\u201d x 64\u201d. Courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, Burtynsky\u2019s Tailings Pond #2<\/em> balances the beauty of the landscape, with the destructive impacts of resource extraction. As the sole photo displayed on the north wall of the gallery, this is perhaps the most visually striking of Burtynsky\u2019s three prints. It features the tailings pond of a diamond mine in South Africa, with alternating radial bands of grey and white, that splay out from the centre. On first glance, this image looks like an abstract painting, as different shades of grey and white swirl towards the outer edges, resembling paintbrush strokes or a pattern of marble veins. On closer examination, however, it is clear that the beautiful patterns in the landscape have resulted from damaging mining practices. Looking closely, viewers can see that the tailings\u2014waste products of diamond mining\u2014 emanate from a small facility at the centre of the photo. The aerial view and framing truly convey the scale at which human activities impact the environment; the small facility at the centre has transformed the entire landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edward Burtynsky, Tailings Pond #2<\/em>, Wesselton Diamond Mine, Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa, 2018, pigment inkjet print on Kodak Professional Photo Paper, 48\u201d x 64\u201d. Photo: Jennifer Boothby<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salgado\u2019s photos, displayed on the east and south walls of the gallery, explore the natural world and its human inhabitants. Based in Paris, the Brazilian photographer produces black-and-white gelatin sliver prints of pristine landscapes and the communities that populate them. This exhibit features five photos from Salgado\u2019s Amaz\u00f4nia<\/em> series, which took six years to produce, during which Salgado settled for weeks at a time in different villages throughout the Brazilian Amazon, photographing the rainforest and its Indigenous people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Salgado\u2019s prints are smaller and more subdued than Burtynsky\u2019s colourful works\u2014they are no less striking in their impact. One of Salgado\u2019s most significant photographs in the exhibit features a girl from Kampa do Rio Indigenous Territory, applying paint to her face while gazing into a hand-mirror. The image illustrates Salgado\u2019s impressive use of light and framing. The stark black background and the girl\u2019s plain black dress remove any context and emphasize the ritual of applying the paint. Viewers\u2019 eyes are drawn directly to her illuminated face, and follow her concentrated gaze into her hand mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado, Lu\u00edsa, daughter of Mois\u00e9s Piy\u00e3ko Ash\u00e1ninka, paints herself in the mirror<\/em>, Kampa do Rio Am\u00f4nea Indigenous Territory, state of Acre, 2016, gelatin silver print, 24\u201d x 20\u201d. Courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salgado\u2019s photos of human subjects posed against black backgrounds are juxtaposed with his exquisite photos of unrestrained landscape. Positioned right at the end of the exhibit, Maraui\u00e1 mountain range <\/em>depicts a series of rough mountain peaks that recede into the distance and reach up towards billowing clouds. Like Burtynsky\u2019s work, this photo contains an incredible amount of detail that grounds the otherwise ethereal landscape. From up close, viewers can see individual light rays pouring through the clouds and emphasizing the rough texture of the mountains in the left foreground. Unlike Burtynsky\u2019s work however, there is no evidence of human intervention in the mountain landscape. Rather, the mountains appear intact\u2014outside the human epoch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado, Maraui\u00e1 mountain range<\/em>, Yanomami Indigenous Territory, Municipality of S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira, state of Amazonas, 2018, gelatin silver print, 24\u201d x 35\u201d. Courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the unsettling abstract beauty of Burtynsky\u2019s works and the ethereal appearance of Salgado\u2019s photos, this exhibit prompts us to contemplate human impacts on the landscape, and how we think about our relationships with the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Boothby<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: Edward Burtynsky & Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado, <\/em>November4 – 27, 2021, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, 190 Richmond Street East, Toronto. Gallery hours: Tue – Sat, 10 am \u2013 6 pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jennifer Boothby<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Burtynsky\u2019s and Salgado\u2019s photos are captivating and present beautiful\u2014if unsettling\u2014images of the natural world.<\/p>\n

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