ANTHROPOCENE: THE ENVIRONMENT GROUP SHOW AT PROA

Fundación Proa presents ANTHROPOCENE, an exhibition by the great Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky for the first time in Argentina. Monumental photographs, films by artists Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, and murals to be immersed through augmented reality devices are brought together in four rooms. Celebrated by the New York Times, the Financial Times or Hyperallergic, this exhibition is an opportunity to get to know the work of Canadian artists for the first time in Argentina.

Combining art, film, virtual reality, augmented reality and scientific research, the project investigates the human influence on the state, dynamics and future of the Earth. A contemporary exhibition that shows new forms of art production and focuses on the most current issue that makes us all responsible: the care of our planet.

Thanks to the presence of the artists, it will be possible to walk through the exhibition, dialogue with them and deepen on the multiple themes that unfold from their works.

Anthropocene, the new geological era that, broadly speaking, is defined by the results of human actions on the earth, is a project that has taken years of research, production and development for the photographers, documentary filmmakers and filmmakers who have been working together since approximately 2006.

The exhibition is comprised of photographs, videos and augmented reality pieces that document and seek to raise awareness about the impact of our actions on the environment.

"With the sheer power of his images and focus on dynamically drawn symmetries, circles, grids, and geometric lines, Edward Burtynsky poses a counterpoint to the proliferation of this dense and intricate web of interference with nature. His large-format images unleash a crescendo of shapes and colors, and the videos and filmic extensions by Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier –with their meticulous choice of angles, shots, and rhythms– present us with a display of visions of irresistible force, comparable to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony," explains Urs Stahel, curator of the exhibition.

Edward Burtynsky is a prominent Canadian photographer and film producer. With a career spanning more than 40 years in the field of photographic filmmaking, Burtynsky is active as a teacher and artist. The landscapes outlined by the imposing General Motors plant in St. Catharines, Burtynsky's hometown, were the starting point for the further development of his photographic work. With his camera, Burtynsky relentlessly explores the impact we humans have on planet earth. His photographic series are in the collections of more than 60 museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, the Tate Modern in London, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California. As a teacher and maker Burtynsky has lectured at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.; George Eastman House in Rochester, New York; the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal; the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Metropolitan University of Toronto.

Jennifer Baichwal is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, writer and producer. She was born in 1965 in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. She studied philosophy and theology at McGill University.  In her artistic career Baichwal quickly became interested in documentary filmmaking. In interviews, she often comments that documentary is, for her, a tool that "allows her to reflect on things that are happening in the real world in a creative way."

Nicholas de Pencier is a Canadian cinematographer and film producer. He was born in Toronto, Canada. With more than 20 years of experience in the audiovisual field, de Pencier has made feature films and outstanding television series for CBC, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic and History Channel. His themes of interest are eclectic; in general, his productions are crossed by contents related to art and philosophy.