Congratulations to Janet Laurence who has been selected to participate in the 56th October Salon in Belgrade, The Pleasure of Love: Transient Emotion in Contemporary Art and the XIII Bienal de Cuenca: Fragile.
56th October Salon, Belgrade
The 56th October Salon in Belgrade, The Pleasure of Love: Transient Emotion in Contemporary Art will feature Janet Laurence alongside fellow Australian artist Tracy Moffatt. Curated by David Elliot, the 56th October Salon includes 60 artists both emerging and established, Laurence will be exhibiting two major works Underlying (2016) and Vanishing (2009).
“Laurence explores what it might mean to heal, albeit metaphorically, the natural environment. Trees are the lungs of our cities – they exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen – and they usually live for several generations. Today, however, very old trees are dying in our cities, while the crops and fields in the outback have been transformed into vast barren expanses. Janet Laurence fuses this sense of communal loss with a search for connection with powerful life-forces. Her work alerts us to the subtle dependencies between water, life, culture and nature in our eco-system. In the face of this, we yearn for a form of alchemy, for the power of enchantment or transformation. It seems that the only place for that sensation is the place of art. In the tradition of Joseph Beuys, and some of the Arte Povera artists from the 1960s, such as Jannis Kounellis or Mario Merz, Janet Laurence reminds us that art can act as a kind of transformation point for ideas and it can provoke its audience into a renewed awareness about our environment.” – Victoria Lynn
Exhibition runs from 23 September to 6 November 2016
For more information click here.
XIII Bienal de Cuenca
Janet Laurence will also exhibit in the XIII Bienal de Cuenca in a parallel exhibition Fragile curated by Natalia Bradshaw. This marks the first time Australian artists have been included in the Bienal de Cuenca, Laurence will be exhibiting alongside fellow Australian artists Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Reko Rennie and Caroline Rothwell.
“…Janet Laurence too explores impermanence, transparency and opacity Within her presentation for Cuenca. Known for her elegiac installations That address pressing environmental issues, she explores the physiology of medicinal plants from Ecuador and Their vital relationship to the human world Through This new, site-specific work. A long table supports glass vials, plastic tubing and laboratory equipment plant alongside locally sourced samples, all partially concealed (or Alternately revealed) fabric beneath a white veil. The imperiled state of the natural world, due to human intervention and catastrophe, is a recurring theme Within Laurence’s practice. All living things are Interrelated, she points out, and if we continue to treat the natural world With disregard, we will impact our own future survival as a species. Recently, Laurence has Explored the concept of the hospital as a space for the rehabilitation of plants and ecosystems under threat. The incorporation of laboratory equipment and white gauze in her works, treats including Cuenca, Suggests a space for healing and resuscitation.Through This new work, themes of interdependence and equilibrium are Brought to the fore, offering a sustainable future if we choose to acknowledge our own fragility and place Within the wider scheme of things.” – Rachel Kent, Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Sydney, Australia
Exhibition runs from 21 October to 31 December 2016
For more information click here.