finalists - Fleurieu Art Prize

JUDGES
PAGE 8
Janet Laurence is one of
Australia’s most important
contemporary artists today.
Sydney based, she works in
mixed media and installation.
Her work has been included
in major survey exhibitions,
nationally and internationally
and is regularly exhibited in
Sydney, Melbourne and Japan.
Her work echoes architecture
while retaining organic
qualities and a sense of
instability and transience.
Her work occupies the liminal
zones or meeting places of
art, science, imagination and
memory.
Profoundly aware of the
interconnection of all life
forms, Janet often produces
work in response to specific
sites or environments using a
Janet Laurence
diverse range of materials.
Alchemical transformation,
history and perception are
underlying themes.
Janet exhibits widely and
has an impressive record of
representation in important
group exhibitions, including
the Ninth Biennale of Sydney
(1992) and Australian Perspecta
(1985, 1991, 1997). Following
her solo exhibition in 1991 at
Seibu Gallery, Tokyo, and since
she was awarded an Australia
Council studio residency in
Tokyo in 1998, Janet has
exhibited regularly in solo
and group exhibitions in Tokyo
and Nagoya. She was invited to
create a permanent installation
for the 2006 Echigo-Tsumari Art
Triennial in japan.
Her more recent solo
exhibitions in Australia
include ‘Birdsong’, Object
Gallery, Sydney; ‘Janet
Laurence’, Jan Manton
Gallery, Brisbane (both 2006);
and ‘Greenhouse’, Sherman
Galleries, Sydney (2005). A
survey exhibition of her work
was held in 2005 at the aANU
Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra.
Well known for her public
commissions and architectural
collaborations, Janet has
completed significant national
and international projects,
such as the ‘Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier’, Australian
War Memorial, Canberra (1993).