Opening on Friday, May 16, 2025, 7-9 pm
The artist will be present
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 gauze fabrics, the coral images appear transformed, fragmented, and fragile. Lighting and currents of air are used to turn the roughly twenty fabric panels 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 abstract imagery evocative of the once-vibrant but now highly endangered ecosystems of coral reefs. Delicate white embroidery on the fabric accentuates specific parts of the imagery, further underscoring the fragility 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.
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. But the artist also hopes to inspire confidence: a display-case installation of white 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. Local efforts such as curbing fishing, tourism, or limiting further coastal development can help mitigate the effects of global warming and ensure the preservation of coral reefs. Laurence thus links 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 responsible action.