Nickel Tailings #39, Sudbury, Ontario
101.6 cms x 152.4 cms (40 ins x 60 ins)
On verso signed, titled, editioned ap 1 and inscribed "original: 8 x 10 colour negative" / "printed: 2002 on kodak professional paper"
printed in 2002
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "May Live Auction 2016, Vancouver Live auction" held on Wed, May 25, 2016.
Lot 012
Lot 012
Estimate: CAD $20,000 - $30,000
Realised: CAD $64,900
Realised: CAD $64,900
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
Lori Pauli et al., Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky, National Gallery of Canada, 2003, a similar work entitled Nickel Tailings #34, Sudbury, Ontario reproduced front cover
Notes:
Edward Burtynsky's large-format photographs of mining scenes, marble quarries and deforested landscapes explore the idea of nature transformed through industry. While this transformative process is incredibly destructive and often irrevocably polluting, the resulting imagery, seen through Burtynsky's lens, is astonishingly beautiful, distracting us at first from the subject of the picture. Herein lies both a visual dichotomy and, as Burtynsky himself has described it, a modern moral dilemma. As end users of the products that these transformed landscapes have produced, we have benefited from the sacrifice of nature, but are we aware or concerned about this, even as we gaze at Burtynsky's remarkable imagery? Burtynsky is one of Canada's most revered and influential photographers, and Nickel Tailings #39, Sudbury, Ontario exemplifies his ability to skilfully compose his images as well as his talent as a photographic colourist. A closely related work from this Tailings series was featured as the cover image for Burtynsky's exhibition catalogue Manufactured Landscapes, published in 2003, and in the subsequent documentary film of the same name, produced in 2006.
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
Lori Pauli et al., Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky, National Gallery of Canada, 2003, a similar work entitled Nickel Tailings #34, Sudbury, Ontario reproduced front cover
Notes:
Edward Burtynsky's large-format photographs of mining scenes, marble quarries and deforested landscapes explore the idea of nature transformed through industry. While this transformative process is incredibly destructive and often irrevocably polluting, the resulting imagery, seen through Burtynsky's lens, is astonishingly beautiful, distracting us at first from the subject of the picture. Herein lies both a visual dichotomy and, as Burtynsky himself has described it, a modern moral dilemma. As end users of the products that these transformed landscapes have produced, we have benefited from the sacrifice of nature, but are we aware or concerned about this, even as we gaze at Burtynsky's remarkable imagery? Burtynsky is one of Canada's most revered and influential photographers, and Nickel Tailings #39, Sudbury, Ontario exemplifies his ability to skilfully compose his images as well as his talent as a photographic colourist. A closely related work from this Tailings series was featured as the cover image for Burtynsky's exhibition catalogue Manufactured Landscapes, published in 2003, and in the subsequent documentary film of the same name, produced in 2006.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.