ARC ONE Gallery has brought together two giants of contemporary Australian art. A strong visual heartbeat runs through the new work of MURRAY FREDERICKS and JANET LAURENCE, who are presenting the extremities of fire and ice at Sydney Contemporary.
Murray Fredericks’ much-anticipated series BLAZE is debuting in Australia at the fair. Using non-destructive methods, Fredericks creates phantastic images of fire and flood by conjuring dramatic fires within vast deluged river systems. Janet Laurence presents an extraordinary new body of work addressing her passionate concern for the plight of Antarctica. Both artists have the capacity to arrest audiences in their tracks and this display asks us to sit with some of the most important questions facing our planet this century.
Fredericks’ BLAZE series has bewitched audiences across the world. Undeniably intense, there is a biblical quality to Fredericks’ images. The making of BLAZE was documented in a behind-the scenes film that accompanies the display at Sydney Contemporary, giving audiences a glimpse into the epic lengths Fredericks goes to capture the perfect image.
Janet Laurence’s breath-taking series Once Were Forests creates visceral waves of intense feeling. They address Laurence’s research into ice climates; as she says, “All these glacial experiences live with me”. She has visited places such as Antarctica and Iceland, and a great gravitas lays at the very centre of these beautiful, layered works. We see our own sense of urgency reflected in her compositions. There are few who can resist the enfolding testimony that Laurence offers. We are compelled not to look away.
