CULTURE
71
JANET LAURENCE:
AFTER NATURE
IN A NUTSHELL
For 30 years, Laurence has been
exploring relationships between art,
science, memory, loss and our connection
to the natural world. This mid-career
survey at the MCA features installations of
living plants, coral and taxidermy birds.
THE SCOPE
“I was interested in how the fragility of our
land was being represented in art, so
when I got a job as a flying artist (where
I was flown to remote communities to
teach), I saw its beauty from an aerial
view. It inspired me to focus on specific
areas that were threatened: The Great
Barrier Reef and the Tarkine forest, as well
as Chiapas in Mexico and the Amazon.”
THE KEY PIECE
“I represented Australia in the Paris climate
talks with a work called ‘Deep Breathing’,
which was like a hospital for the Barrier
Reef. I use the idea of intensive care, but
with the potential for healing as well.”THE TAKEAWAY
“We’re reaching an emergency point.
There is no more wild. And we’re
destroying the oceans. We need to
realise the important vital connections
to our nature.”
Janet Laurence: After Nature at the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney,
March 1 – June 10QUILTY
IN A NUTSHELL
Curator Lisa Slade says Quilty has
created a body of work – his first major
exhibition in a decade – to show us not so
much the sight of conflict, but the
psychological impact of war.
THE SCOPE
“Ben Quilty is a return to a very old
concept of the artist-as-witness, from his
work as an official war artist in Afghanistan,
to his connection with [executed Bali
Nine prisoner] Myuran Sukumaran, and
a trip to Lebanon and Syria where he
witnessed the plight of refugees.”
THE KEY PIECE
“‘Fairy Bower Rorschach’ is a beautiful
landscape, but the site itself is where
a massacre occurred. Ben brings the
underbelly of our nationhood to the table,
but not in a way that it is confronting; he
seduces us in with all of this paint, and then
gives us a reflective moment.”THE TAKEAWAY
“Ben inspires us to take an active role as
citizens. We all have a role to play. But
I think one thing we sometimes forget is to
just celebrate the art. The show [touches
on] social agency, but it’s also
a celebration of paint.”
Quilty at the Art Gallery of South
Australia: March 2 – June 2; Queensland
Gallery of Modern Art: June 29 –
October 13; Art Gallery of New South
Wales: November 9 – February 2, 2020THE NATIONAL
IN A NUTSHELL
Four curators across three of Sydney’s
major cultural institutions join forces for
a deep-dive into contemporary Australian
art. AGNSW curator of photographs,
Isobel Parker Philip, says each exhibition
is different, yet they’re all in communication.
THE SCOPE
“We’ve put together a list of artists that
isn’t necessarily the list you’d usually find in
an institutional show: there are more
women than men, and there’s a really
strong indigenous presence. We’re
getting a snapshot of the ideas concerning
artists, such as the instability and
impermanence of the current moment.”
THE KEY PIECE
“Rushdi Anwar’s work is about his
experience as a refugee. He’s burnt
wooden chairs to a crisp and then piled
them into a teetering funeral pyre. It’s
about what happens when the most basic
object is taken away from you.”
THE TAKEAWAY
“A lot of people are scared of
contemporary art, but it’s not scary. It can
offer poignant moments of reflection
about critical issues.” E
The National at the Art Gallery of New
South Wales: March 29 – July 21;
Carriageworks: March 29 – June 23;
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia:
March 29 – June 23Rushdi Anwar’s “Irhal (Expel), HopeAnd The Sorrow Of Displacement”Janet Laurence’s “Deep Breathing Resuscitation For The Reef”TOUR DE
FORCE
ARTSBen Quilty’s “Fairy Bower Rorschach”THREE OF THE YEAR’S
MOST THOUGHT-
PROVOKING EXHIBITIONS,
AS EXPLAINED BY THE
WOMEN BEHIND THEM