The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video

September 14 — December 4, 2016
Main Gallery, The Image Centre (formerly Ryerson Image Centre)
Guest Curator: Benedicte Ramade

Increasingly and forebodingly, artists are turning their attention to the subject of climate change, in poignant and often confrontational ways. The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video features recent and historic work by a range of pioneering and visionary artists (including Amy Balkin, Raymond Boisjoly, Edward Burtynsky, Naoya Hatakeyama, Isabelle Hayeur, Mishka Henner, Chris Jordan, Richard Misrach, Evariste Richer, Joel Sternfeld and Sharon Stewart) from around the world. Photojournalism from the The Image Centre's (formerly Ryerson Image Centre) famed Black Star Collection is also included, contextualising artistic reflections alongside half a century of historical reportage on the environment.

The Edge of the Earth questions traditional views and challenges our environmental consciousness, proceeding from the conviction that humans have entered the Era of the Anthropocene, dominating the planet in its uppermost layers and outermost edges. Guest curated by Montreal-based art historian Dr. Benedicte Ramade, this in-depth exhibition attempts to foster a reconsideration of climate change, envisioning the present crises and future consequences of humanity’s harsh imprint on our planet.

Event(s):

Opening Party
Wednesday, September 14
6:00–8:00 PM

Special Tour
With The Image Centre (formerly Ryerson Image Centre) Exhibitions Curator Dr. Gaelle Morel
Wednesday, September 28
6:00 PM

Special Tour
With Guest Curator Dr. Benedicte Ramade
Wednesday, November 16
6:00 PM

Exhibition Tours
Daily 2:30 PM

All events take place at The Image Centre (formerly Ryerson Image Centre), unless otherwise noted

Exhibition sponsors

Media sponsors

Fig. 1

Documentation view of Hicham Berrada’s Celeste, 2014. Photo credit: Assaf Shoshan. Courtesy of the artist and kamel mennour, Paris

Fig. 2

Documentation view of Hicham Berrada’s Celeste, 2014. Photo credit: Amandine Bajou. Courtesy of the artist and kamel mennour, Paris

Fig. 3

Adrien Missika , Documentation photograph of Darvaza, Turkmenistan, 2011. Courtesy of the artist

Fig. 4

Naoya Hatakeyama, Blast (#5416), 1998. Chromogenic print © Naoya Hatakeyama. Courtesy of Yale University Gallery - The Heinz Family Fund

Fig. 5

Nicolas Baier, Re?miniscence 02, 2013. Inkjet print. Courtesy of Galerie Division, Montreal & Toronto

Fig. 6

Peter Goin, Accelerated Erosion, July 1987; printed 2012–2014. From the series Nuclear Landscapes. Digital Inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist

Fig. 7

Paola Pivi, Untitled (Zebras), 2003. Pigment print. Photography by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin

Fig.

Curator Bio

Benedicte Ramade
Guest Curator

Dr. Benedicte Ramade holds a PhD from Sorbonne University (Paris, France), specializing in the history of ecological art in the United States. In 2009, she curated the group exhibition Acclimatation at Villa Arson (Nice, France), and edited the accompanying catalogue, which analyzed the relationships between nature and culture. In 2010 and 2011, Ramade addressed the practice of recycling in contemporary art in the group exhibition Rehab, The Art of Re-Do, at Fondation Edf (Paris, France), and edited the accompanying catalogue. She currently lives and works in Montreal, Canada, where she is a lecturer and postdoctoral fellow at Universite de Montreal.

Exhibition Catalogue

The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video

Contributors: Benedicte Ramade, Paul Roth, TJ Demos

Increasingly and forebodingly, artists are turning their attention to the subject of climate change, in poignant and often confrontational ways. The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video features recent and historic work by a range of pioneering and visionary artists. Questioning traditional views and challenging our environmental consciousness, this in-depth publication and accompanying exhibition attempt to foster a reconsideration of climate change, envisioning the present crises and future consequences of humanity's harsh imprint on our planet.

Learn more

Installation Shots

A black bench in the middle of a gallery, a video projected on a black wall in front of it — Fig. 1
*The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Vide*o (installation view), 2016 © Riley Snelling, The Image Centre

Two large photographs on a diagonal wall — Fig. 2
*The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video* (installation view), 2016 © Riley Snelling, The Image Centre

Three photographs in white frames, of plastic toys in natural disaster situations — Fig. 3
*The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video* (installation view), 2016 © Riley Snelling, The Image Centre

The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video

Curator Bio

Exhibition Catalogue

Installation Shots

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