Anthony Redpath exhibition opening today in Vancouver
Image: Anthony Redpath, Additive Mix, chromogenic print, 44 x 96 in, edition of 7.
May 26 - June 7, 2015
OPENING RECEPTION: THURSDAY, MAY 26TH, 6-9PM
ARTIST IN ATTENDANCE
The industrial history of coastal British Columbia is the focus of Anthony Redpath's latest photographic series. Framing worn-down or vacant industrial buildings with the intention of capturing only a section of the landscape, Redpath positions his lens at an unnerving distance to disorient the viewer by distilling the subject into a series of different planes. Cropping the image close in post production, RE·FINED verges towards abstraction by removing the directional horizon line in each composition. Enhanced by the complex textures of ribbing, vaulting and rustication in the sugar refinery, pulp mills, and oil refinery that comprise the series, Redpath's attention to detail reveals the effects of time on his subjects as complex, beautiful and indicative of a shift in emphasis within the industrial sectors of coastal British Columbia.
Following the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Andreas Gursky and Candida Hofer, Redpath's lens entices the viewer to go beyond the documentary style and examine closely the surface sensuality and rich palette of a decaying landscape. As critic Sky Gooden has observed, "where the Bechers stood back from their industrial subjects, Redpath rushes in."
