Janet Laurence -The Burnt Sea

The exhibition "The Burnt Sea" by renowned Australian artist Janet Laurence (b. 1947) presents an installation conceived especially for the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung. Incorporating Alfred Ehrhardt’s iconic coral photographs from the 1930s and 1940s, Laurence creates an experiential setting that poetically conveys the fragility and loss of the marine world.

Printed on nearly weightless silk voile fabric, the coral images appear transformed, fragmented, fragile, and vanishing. Lighting and currents of air are used to turn the fabric veils into a floating work of art—as if buffeted about by the ocean’s waves—underlining nature’s ephemeral beauty while also drawing attention to its endangered status.Laurence’s enlarging and abstracting of Ehrhardt’s historical coral photographs reveals the macroscopic details of these unique creatures and their delicate structures.

By inverting gray values and increasing contrasts, the artist creates abstracted images evocative of the once-vibrant but now disappearing ecosystems of coral reefs. Delicate white embroidery on the silk accentuates specific parts of the imagery and spills as threads, further underscoring the loss of the coral structures. In depicting the corals as decayed, ash-colored remnants, the installation reflects the "burning state" of the world – even under water where heatwaves cause the coral bleaching.Laurence’s work is an urgent reminder of the pressing ecological crisis: only a third of the world’s coral reefs are in a healthy state. Their disappearance is not only a loss for the oceans, but for the entire planet.

However, the artist wants to inspire hope: a small vitrine installation of white bleached corals, connected by colored threads, evokes thoughts of healing and restoration. This "reef hospital" alludes to successful measures for preserving coral reefs threatened by climate change, thus linking together the increasing loss of coral reefs with the hope of revitalization. Operating at the intersection of art and science, Laurence’s immersive works examine our often-contradictory relationship with nature and the threat of climate change. The exhibition navigates between states of loss, care and comfort, inviting us to consider nature’s vulnerability not only as a warning, but also as an inspiration to take action.