Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery and Howard Greenberg Gallery are pleased to present concurrent exhibitions of work by photographer Edward Burtynsky.
The exhibition at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery will feature large-scale works from Burtynsky's newest series Dryland Farming. Shot in the remote Monegros region of northeastern Spain, the photographs capture the vibrant topography of a landscape in flux. This hilly, arid terrain is both desolate and fertile, with farmland carved from the gypsum foothills. Despite a scarcity of water, generations of farmers have attempted to tame this wilderness, growing cereal grains, such as wheat, barley, and corn, and creating the undulating patchwork seen today. Burtynsky trains his lens on these constructed landscapes, which are a juxtaposition of nature's unspoiled beauty with man's endeavor to harness the power and bounty within it.
Burtynsky photographed these patterned crop fields from a 2,000 foot aerial view, resulting in his most abstract works to date. The twisted lines and bold patches of color and texture create forms that are powerfully rich and painterly. Viewing these works conjures the energy of Abstract Expressionism, and the evocative styles of Kandinsky, Miro, and Dubuffet, as well as primitive art and cave drawings.
The concurrent exhibition at Howard Greenberg Gallery will present retrospective works that span Burtynsky's career. These images explore the complex relationship between industry and nature, constructed brilliance and unspoiled earth, and represent Burtynsky's ongoing examination of humanity's growing ecological footprint.
Edward Burtynsky's works are included in over fifty major museum collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Tate Modern in London, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., The Library of Congress in Washington D.C., the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.
Major exhibitions include Burtynsky: OIL (touring 2009 – present) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; Manufactured Landscapes (touring 2003 – 2005) at the Brooklyn Museum and the National Gallery of Canada; and China (touring 2005 – 2008), curated by David Brown, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Burtynsky is also the subject of the award-winning film Manufactured Landscapes (2006), directed by Jennifer Baichwal.
Burtynsky has received many honors, including the TED Prize, The Order of Canada, the Outreach Award at the Recontres d'Arles, The Flying Elephant Fellowship, Applied Arts Magazine book awards, and the Roloff Beny Book Award. Burtynsky holds Honorary Doctorates from Queen's University, Ryerson University, and Mount Allison University in Canada, and Montserrat University in Massachusetts.
For further information, please contact Heather Dell at (212) 243 8830 or by email at Heather@brycewolkowitz.com.