On October 3, the Corcoran Gallery of Art will premiere Edward Burtynsky: Oil, an original exhibition featuring 56 large-scale color landscapes by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. The exhibition surveys a decade of photographic imagery exploring the subject of oil. Featuring many new photographs, most never-before-exhibited, Oil chronicles the “lifecycle” of this major energy source, one that has profoundly shaped the modern world.
Edward Burtynsky, SOCAR Oil Fields #6, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2006
“Edward Burtynsky’s images of industry and altered landscapes are among the most powerful, most visceral photographs being made today. His body of work on oil is an extraordinary undertaking — a profound and unprecedented look at a subject that affects all of our lives. We are very proud to present this work here in the nation’s capital,” said Paul Roth, senior curator of photography and media arts at the Corcoran.
Edward Burtynsky: Oil is an examination of one the most important subjects of our time by one of the most respected and recognized contemporary photographers in the world. From 1997 through 2009, Burtynsky traveled internationally to chronicle the production, distribution, and use of this critical fuel. In addition to revealing the rarely-seen mechanics of its manufacture, he photographs the effects of oil on our lives, depicting landscapes altered by its extraction from the Earth and by the sprawl generated around its use.
Burtynsky’s large-scale color photographs render his subjects with transfixing clarity of detail. His extensive exploration is organized thematically: aerial views of oil fields, the architecture of massive refineries, highway interchanges ribboning across the landscape, and motorculture aficionados at automotive events. The artist concludes his exploration with a series of arresting “manufactured” landscapes: ancient oil derricks, vistas of junked vehicles, recycling yards, and mammoth shipbreaking operations.
Burtynsky photographs the phenomenon of oil in an effort to portray its complex psychological and physical dimensions. These images tell an epic story of mankind expressed through our discovery, exploitation, and celebration of this vital natural resource. His images hint at the socio-economic complexity of the subject, but remain open-ended by creating a sense of the sublime. Edward Burtynsky: Oil promises to be the definitive photographic statement of our times on this much-debated subject.
SPONSORSHIP OF THE EXHIBITION
Edward Burtynsky: Oil is made possible with the generous support of the Scotiabank Group.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Oil is organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art and curated by Roth. After closing at the Corcoran on December 13, the exhibition will embark on an international tour through 2012.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Edward Burtynsky is one of the world’s most respected photographers. His color photographs of industrially transformed landscapes are in the collections of major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum in New York. Born in 1955 of Ukrainian heritage in St. Catharines, Ontario, Burtynsky is a graduate of Ryerson University and Niagara College. His father worked on an automobile production line at a General Motors plant in his hometown; Burtynsky credits this experience as his earliest exposure to the subject of industry, and oil in particular. Burtynsky’s exhibitions include Manufactured Landscapes (2003); Before the Flood (2003); Burtynsky – China (2005); and Edward Burtynsky – Quarries (2006), all of which have traveled extensively to venues in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia. Among many other honors, in 2004 Burtynsky was awarded a prestigious TED Prize; in 2007 he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, that nation’s highest civilian honor.
ABOUT THE CORCORAN
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, a privately funded institution, was founded in 1869 as Washington’s first and largest non-federal museum of art. It is known internationally for its distinguished collection of historical and modern American art as well as contemporary art, photography, European painting, sculpture and the decorative arts. Founded in 1890, the Corcoran College of Art + Design is Washington’s only four-year college of art and design offering BFA degrees in Digital Media Design, Fine Art, Graphic Design and Photography; a five-year Bachelor of Fine Arts/ Master of Arts in Teaching (BFA/MAT); and a two-year Master of Arts (MA) in Interior Design or History of Decorative Arts. The College’s Continuing Education program offers part-time credit and non-credit classes for children and adults and draws more than 2,500 participants each year.
For detailed information about Edward Burtynsky: Oil, visit http://www.corcoran.org/exhibitions/press_burtynsky/
