Congratulations to JANET LAURENCE, whose exhibition JANET LAURENCE: THE PALM AT THE END OF THE MING (8 July - 17 September 2019) at The Johnson Collection has been shortlisted for the ‘Temporary or Travelling Exhibition’ category of the 2020 Museums and Galleries National Awards (MAGNA).
In the exhibition Janet explored The Johnston Collection alongside her own creative practices - collecting and saving, nature and the environment - within the context of Fairhall exhibition-house.
The title of the exhibition is drawn from the poem Of Mere Being by Wallace Stevens:
The palm at the end of the mind,
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze decor,
A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.
You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine.
The palm stands on the edge of space.
The wind moves slowly in the branches.
The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.