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ONLINE AUCTION
Art Now
6th session

May 04 - May 27, 2023

LOT DETAILS
         
         
         
         

This session is closed for bidding.
Current bid: $13,000 CAD
Bidding History
Paddle # Date Amount

31544 27-May-2023 03:51:51 PM $13,000

The bidding history list updated on: Thursday, March 28, 2024 10:19:20

LOT 709

OC RCA
1955 -
Canadian

Shipyard #20, Qili Port, Zhejiang Province, China
digital chromogenic print
on verso signed, titled, editioned 2/9 on the artist's label and dated 2005
49 x 39 in, 124.5 x 99.1 cm

Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CAD

Sold for: $16,250

Preview at:

PROVENANCE
Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
Marc Mayer et al., China: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky, 2005, reproduced pages 70 and 130


Edward Burtynsky’s practice explores the intersections of human industrialization and the natural environment, tracking the transformations and alterations that are the consequences of modernization. Taken in the Qili Port as part of an extended exploration of China, the Shipyard photographs are among Burtynsky’s most imposing works, documenting the construction site of up to 250 ships a year. Here, the statuesque hulk looms over the viewer. From ground level, the overwhelming size of the ship is made apparent, while the low angle renders it unfamiliar. Rusted and skeletal, bristling with gantries and wires and surrounded by fragmented metal, it’s initially unclear whether the huge ship is being built or dismantled. Even so, the colossal scale is grounded to the human body: two workmen, dwarfed against the structure, look out to camera; a team of welders work within the canyon-sized spaces between ships; and a row of diminutive bikes nestles precariously in the shadow of the hull. The overall effect is something sublime and alienating, with the immensity of the construction underscoring the dizzying material demands of modernity.


All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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