Edward Burtynsky is probably the most famous Canadian artist working today. Burtynsky’s critically acclaimed images of manufactured landscapes and his colourful series on life in China made him an international superstar.
His latest exhibition Quarries, at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery, focuses on a series of quarries in the Iberian Peninsula. The show coincides with the release of his book Edward Burtynsky: Quarries.
At the exhibition’s opening reception on November 1, I saw the crème of the Toronto art scene crammed into the Metivier Gallery with buyers and students. The atmosphere was full of celebration, and for good reason: Burtynsky’s images are stunning. Some may even go so far as to call them beautiful. The photos are so striking that the viewer forgets the subject matter is not some inactive landscape scene, but actual working quarries. From these places come the stone that builds our skyscrapers and our schools. Burtynsky’s talent, of course, is taking photographs that look like perfect compositions of these active, living sites.
Some look like expansive landscapes, such as* Iberian Quarries 14 A, B, and C. Others have such a strong verticality as to make the viewer feel like they are looking down from a helicopter, such as *Iberian Quarries #9. Still others resemble an abstract expressionist painting from a distance, such as Rock of Ages #38. My personal favourite is Iberian Quarries #8 (pictured right), an aerial view of a quarry with an unmistakably crucifix-shaped body of water in the bottom.
Burtynsky has long been obsessed with landscape as architecture and this latest series may be viewed as a culmination of this 17- year obsession. After the book and this exhibition, Burtynsky says it’s the end of his fixation with quarries. These images, however, will stay with me, and no doubt with Burtynsky, for years to come.
Edward Burtynsky’s Quarries runs at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery, 451 King St. W. until November 24.
