Janet Laurence

Janet Laurence’s ‘H2O: Water Bar’

Janet Laurence’s latest project will be exhibiting in Sydney from 13 to 28 February from 6 to 9pm at Paddington Reservoir Gardens:

“Sydney’s latest must-visit tasting bar is serving something more precious than vintage French bubbles or Japanese whiskey: our natural water supply.

H2O: Water Bar is a reflective, glassy glistening installation by Janet Laurence that allows you to sample a variety of water sourced from diverse regions of Australia.

Outfitted like an apothecary or laboratory, H2O: Water Bar is set amongst the heritage industrial space of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens’ inner chamber, opened to the public especially for this installation.

Australia’s identity is forever tied to our relationship with water, from the waterholes used as weapons during the colonial era, to the long droughts that affect our regional communities, and the environmental threats to the future of Australia’s ground water. By inviting you to experience the qualities of different Australian waters, H2O: Water Bar helps us to better understand the complexity and fragility of this vital resource.”

Read more about the project here and here!

Janet Laurence in ‘Anthropocene’, the Fine Art Society, London

From 17-27 November, Janet Laurence presents Anthropocene with Scottish artist Angela Palmer at the Fine Art Society in London.

Anthropocene (from the Greek anthropo – ‘man’, and cene –‘new’) is the name used to denote the proposed new geological era due to supersede the current Holocene epoch as a formal scientific recognition of the prevailing and irrevocable impact of human life on earth. 

Both Laurence and Palmer share an interest in the changing face of the environment and humanity’s effect on the planet and will present, shown alongside each other for the first time, works reflecting this ever-present issue. 

Janet Laurence brings Great Barrier Reef to Paris

Janet Laurence’s Deep Breathing (Resuscitation for the Reef) will exhibit at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, for the Climate Change Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Convention, also referred to as UNFCCC or COP21.

Laurence is one of 30 artists from 23 countries selected by the United Nations to exhibit works across Paris for the climate change talks. Together the works are presented by the UN as Artists 4 Paris Climate. Using photographs, videos, sculptural objects, natural materials and borrowed specimens, Janet’s work for this exhibition is a new site-specific, immersive installation drawing upon research in collaboration with scientists from the Great Barrier Reef Authority, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Australian Museum, the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, the Lizard Island Research Station and the WWF.

This installation – in the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution at the MNHN – reflects on major climate change issues directly affecting the Great Barrier Reef. It is accompanied by a video work filmed during a residency on Lizard Island in Australia, which is projected at the Tropical Aquarium of Palais de la Porte Dorée. The works are also on display for fiac!, the Paris International Contemporary Art Fair.

Deep Breathing (Resuscitation for the Reef) will travel to Australia to exhibit at the National Museum in 2016.

Congratulations Janet, we look forward to seeing it back in Australia!

Check out her profile on the Artist 4 Paris Climate 2015 and on the fiac! website.