The exhibition The Burnt Sea by renowned Australian artist Janet Laurence (b. 1947) presents from 17. May 2025 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.
Image above: Janet Laurence, The Burnt Sea, 2025, Fotodruck auf Seidenvoile-Stoffen, © Janet Laurence.
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 oftencontradictory 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.
Accompanying events:
Saturday, May 17, 2025, 4 pm: Guided tour through the exhibition »Janet Laurence: The Burnt Sea« with the artist Janet Laurence and Stefanie Regina Dietzel (in English)
Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 7 pm: In conjunction with the Literaturhaus der Fotografie series: »Books from the Bottom of the Seas. Fascination, exploration and threat of the oceans«, explored in a literary dive with Meike Rötzer, moderated by Thomas Böhm (radioeins: Die Literaturagenten)
Thursday, July 3, 2025, 7 pm: Photo lecture by Heinz Krimmer: »Art versus biology – the fascinating world of coral reefs«
Thursday, July 24, 2025, 6 pm: Guided tour of the exhibition »Janet Laurence: The Burnt Sea« with Stefanie Regina Dietzel and a dance performance by Pamela Hernándes & Cleo Chiu
WHEN?
Opening: Friday, May 16, 2025, 7–9 pm
Exhibition period: 17. May until 7. September 2025
Opening hours: Tue-Sun, 11 am – 6 pm
WHERE?
Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
Auguststr. 75
10117 Berlin
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