Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky explores the intersection of nature and industry through his large-scale images that are extraordinarily beautiful, exquisitely detailed, and hauntingly unnerving. Over the years, he has explored the global landscape through series that include Quarries, Ships, Tailings, Mines, Recycling, Oil, and China. Together, the images convey the impact of industry on consumerism, culture, and human life.
Burtynsky is an internationally acclaimed photographer whose depictions of global industrial landscapes are in the collections of more than fifty major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Bibliotéque Nationale in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. His distinguished awards include the TED Prize and the title of Officer of the Order of Canada. He holds four honorary doctorate degrees.
Edward Burtynsky: The Industrial Sublime presents 30 large-scale photographs dating from 1991 – 2008. The exhibition was organized with Weber State University, the Frist Center for Contemporary Art, and the University of Wyoming Art Museum. It has been funded in part by the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum, Wyoming Public Radio, and the Wyoming Arts Council through the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art.
A UW Faculty Response to Edward Burtynsky: The Industrial Sublime will take place Monday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m. at the UW Art Museum. A Screening of Manufactured Landscapes (a film by Jennifer Baichwal, 2006) will take place Monday, March 5, 7 p.m. in the Visual Arts Center Auditorium.