EDWARD BURTYNSKY
EDWARD BURTYNSKY S A L T P A N S
GA L LE RY M I S S I O N Established in 2000, Sundaram Tagore Gallery is devoted to examining the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-profit events that encourage spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts. With alliances across the globe, our interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines, including poetry, literature, performance art, film and music.
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S A L T Sundaram Tagore Singapore is pleased to present new large-scale color photographs from Salt Pans, the latest installment in Edward Burtynsky’s ongoing series of photographs exploring different industrialized landscapes around the world. For this project, Burtynsky traveled to Gujarat, India, to photograph the Little Rann of Kutch, a region that is home to more than 100,000 salt workers extracting around one million tons of salt from the floodwaters of the Arabian Sea each year. The works on view were shot from a helicopter during an intense ten-day period. The striking geometric images present the pans, wells and vehicle tracks as abstract, painterly patterns: subtly colored rectangles crossed by grids of gestural lines. In recent years, Burtynsky’s photographs have become increasingly abstract as a result of his topographical perspective and fascination with finding similarities to painting in the industrialized landscape.
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Furthermore, receding groundwater levels, combined with debt, diminishing market values as well as a lack of governmental support, threaten the future of this 400-year-old tradition and the lives dependent on it. With these stunning images, Burtynsky skillfully captures the delicate balance between natural and human processes—the presence of salt in the earth’s composition and our need to harness it. The photographs in this show were recently published in a book titled Edward Burtynsky: Salt Pans by the German publishing house Steidl. Work from this series will be on display alongside a select group of images from another new book Edward Burtynsky: Essential Elements, which examines the artist’s work across four decades.
However, the reality behind these disarmingly beautiful images is a harsh one. Each year thousands of poorly paid Agariya workers toil in the pans to extract large quantities of salt from the floodwaters. Salt Pans #3, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6 7
Salt Pans #15, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6
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Salt Pans #13, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6
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Salt Pans #5, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6 12
Salt Pans #6, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6 13
Salt Pans #17, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 39 x 52 inches/99 x 132 cm, edition of 9
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Salt Pans #24, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6
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Salt Pans #10, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6 18
Salt Pans #16, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6 19
Salt Pans #9, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 39 x 52 inches/99 x 132 cm, edition of 9
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Salt Pans #29, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6
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Salt Pans #21, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 39 x 52 inches/99 x 132 cm, edition of 9
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Salt Pans #25, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 39 x 52 inches/99 x 132 cm, edition of 9 26
Salt Pans #2, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 64 inches/122 x 163 cm, edition of 6 27
Canola Fields #2, Luoping Yunnan Province, China, 2011, Chromogenic color print, 30.8 x 96 inches/78.2 x 243.8 cm, edition of 12 28
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Gila Forest #3, New Mexico, 2012, Chromogenic color print, 39 x 52 inches/99.1 x 132.1 cm, edition of 9
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Carol and Morton Rapp Gallery #1, Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada, 2008, Chromogenic color print, 60 x 48 inches/152.4 x 121.9 cm, edition of 6 32
Concrete Snap Ties, The New Art Gallery of Alberta, Randall Stout Architects, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2008, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 60 inches/121.9 cm x 152.4, edition of 6
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Landscape Study #13, Ontario, Canada, 1981, Chromogenic color print, 48 x 60 inches/121.9 x 152.4 cm, edition of 6
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Carrara Marble Quarries #12, 1993, Chromogenic color print, 60 x 48 inches/152.4 x 121.9 cm, edition of 6
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Shipyard #14, Qili Port, Zhejiang Province, 2005, Chromogenic color print, 60 x 48 inches/152.4 x 121.9 cm, edition of 6 38
Container Ports #8, Racine Port, Montreal, Quebec, 2001, Chromogenic color print, 27 x 34 inches/68.6 x 86.4 cm, edition of 10 39
Air Canada Maintenance Hangar #3, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1993, Chromogenic color print, 30 x 60 inches/76.2 x 152.4 cm, edition of 9
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SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERY new york 547 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 fax 212 677 4521 • gallery@sundaramtagore.com new york 1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 • tel 212 288 2889 hong kong 4/F, 57–59 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong • tel 852 2581 9678 fax 852 2581 9673 • hongkong@sundaramtagore.com singapore 5 Lock Road 01–05, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 • singapore@sundaramtagore.com President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Hong Kong: Faina Derman Sales director, Singapore: Melanie Taylor Exhibition coordinator/registrar: Haslinda Abdul Rahman Designer: Russell Whitehead Editorial support: Kieran Doherty and Payal Uttam WWW.SUNDARAMTAGORE.COM Text © 2017 Sundaram Tagore Gallery Photographs © 2017 Edward Burtynsky All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Cover: Salt Pans #27, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India, 2016, Chromogenic color print, 58.5 x 78 inches/149 x 198 cm, edition of 3