Bill Henson
Encyclopedia
Bill Henson is an Australian contemporary art photographer.
in New York, the Venice Biennale
, the National Gallery of Victoria
in Melbourne
, Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales
in Sydney
, Australia and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. His current practice involves holding one exhibition in Australia every two years, and up to three overseas exhibitions each year.
Henson's photographs reflect an interest in ambiguity and transition. The use of chiaroscuro
is common throughout his works. His photographs are painterly
and often presented as diptych
s, triptych
s and other groupings.
Henson's works often meditate on the categories of and relationships between male and female; youth and adulthood; day and night; light and dark; nature and civilisation. His images often use flattened perspective and tend towards abstraction
. The faces of the subjects are often blurred or partly shadowed and do not directly face the viewer.
According to Crawford, Henson presents "adolescents in their states of despair, intoxication and immature ribaldry". He has said that these "moments of transition and metamorphosis are important in everyone's lives".
Henson's intention is to use photography for creative expression. He states that he is not interested in a political or sociological agenda, although the viewer cannot help but relate his works to their own stance on these issues. Henson, however, is not intending his photographs to be authoritative evidence but rather to suggest endless possibilities and cause people to wonder.
Henson studied Visual Arts and Design 1974-1975 at Prahran College of Advanced Education
where Athol Shmith
was head of the Photography program. He did not complete the diploma, but the nineteen-year-old Henson's work was promoted by Shmith to Jenny Boddington, curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Victoria
with the result that Henson's first solo show was exhibited there in 1975 . He taught briefly at the Victorian College of the Arts
in Melbourne.
, Sydney, was cancelled after eight individual complaints were made to Police voicing concerns about an email invitation from the Gallery to a "Private View" that depicted photographs of a nude 13-year old girl. Hetty Johnston
, a child protection advocate (Bravehearts), also lodged a complaint with the New South Wales police.
On the same day, Sydney Morning Herald columnist, Miranda Devine
, had also written a scathing article in response to viewing the email invitation, which precipitated heated talk-back and media discussion throughout the day. In the process of removing the images from the Gallery, Police found more photographs of naked children on exhibition among various large format photographs of nonfigurative subjects, which they later sought to examine for the purposes of determining their legal status under the NSW Crimes Act and child protection legislation. Following discussions with the Gallery and a decision by Henson, the Gallery cancelled the opening and postponed the show.
It was announced on 23 May that a number of the images in the exhibition had been seized by police local Area Commander Alan Sicard, with the intention of charging Bill Henson and/or the Gallery with "publishing an indecent article" under the Crimes Act. The seized images were also removed from the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery website, where the remainder of the series can now be viewed online.
The situation provoked a national debate on censorship. In a televised interview, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
stated that he found the images "absolutely revolting" and that they had "no artistic merit". These views swiftly drew censure from members of the 'creative stream' who attended the recent 2020 Summit
convened by Rudd, led by actor Cate Blanchett
.
On 5 June 2008, the former director of the National Gallery of Australia Betty Churcher said it was "not surprising" that the New South Wales Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would announce its official recommendation that no charges be laid regarding the Sydney Roslyn Oxley9 gallery's collection of photographs by artist Bill Henson.
Ms Churcher says it would have been ridiculous to drag the case through the courts:
On 6 June 2008 it was reported in The Age
that police would not prosecute Bill Henson over his photographs of naked teenagers, after they were declared "mild and justified" and given a PG rating by the Australian Classification Board
, suggesting viewing by children under the age of 16 is suitable with parental guidance.
Australian scholar Niall Lucy
criticizes Devine's response to Henson's art in his 2010 book Pomo Oz: Fear and Loathing Down Under.
called The Henson Case that in 2007 he visited St Kilda Park Primary School to pick out potential models for his art work. Henson was allowed entry into the school and escorted by principal Sue Knight around the schoolgrounds and picked two children he thought would be suitable - one child, a boy, was later photographed after his parents were approached by the school on behalf of the artist.
An investigation into the matter was launched by the Department of Education on 6 October 2008. The investigation found that the principal had complied with departmental policy, and had no case to answer.
Background
Henson's art has been exhibited in many locations, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
in New York, the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
, the National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales , located in The Domain in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was established in 1897 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. His current practice involves holding one exhibition in Australia every two years, and up to three overseas exhibitions each year.
Henson's photographs reflect an interest in ambiguity and transition. The use of chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....
is common throughout his works. His photographs are painterly
Painterly
Painterliness is a translation of the German term , a word popularized by Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin in order to help focus, enrich and standardize the terms being used by art historians of his time to characterize works of art...
and often presented as diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
s, triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
s and other groupings.
Henson's works often meditate on the categories of and relationships between male and female; youth and adulthood; day and night; light and dark; nature and civilisation. His images often use flattened perspective and tend towards abstraction
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
. The faces of the subjects are often blurred or partly shadowed and do not directly face the viewer.
According to Crawford, Henson presents "adolescents in their states of despair, intoxication and immature ribaldry". He has said that these "moments of transition and metamorphosis are important in everyone's lives".
Henson's intention is to use photography for creative expression. He states that he is not interested in a political or sociological agenda, although the viewer cannot help but relate his works to their own stance on these issues. Henson, however, is not intending his photographs to be authoritative evidence but rather to suggest endless possibilities and cause people to wonder.
Henson studied Visual Arts and Design 1974-1975 at Prahran College of Advanced Education
Victoria College, Melbourne
Victoria College was a College of Advanced Education in Melbourne, Australia. It was created as a result of the merger on December 23 1981 of the State College of Victoria colleges at Burwood, Rusden and Toorak with the Prahran College of Advanced Education...
where Athol Shmith
Athol Shmith
Louis Athol Shmith , was a celebrated studio portrait and fashion photographer and photography educator in his home city of Melbourne, Australia, and contributed to the promotion of international photography within Australia as much as to the fostering of Australian photography in the world...
was head of the Photography program. He did not complete the diploma, but the nineteen-year-old Henson's work was promoted by Shmith to Jenny Boddington, curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
with the result that Henson's first solo show was exhibited there in 1975 . He taught briefly at the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
in Melbourne.
Images seized
On 22 May 2008, the opening night of Bill Henson's 2007-2008 exhibition at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in PaddingtonPaddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
, Sydney, was cancelled after eight individual complaints were made to Police voicing concerns about an email invitation from the Gallery to a "Private View" that depicted photographs of a nude 13-year old girl. Hetty Johnston
Hetty Johnston
Hetty Margarette Johnston is an Australian child abuse campaigner who runs a child protection organisation called Bravehearts. She has attracted media attention by voicing her opinions on a number of child protection issues involving high-profile members of the Australian public...
, a child protection advocate (Bravehearts), also lodged a complaint with the New South Wales police.
On the same day, Sydney Morning Herald columnist, Miranda Devine
Miranda Devine
Miranda Devine is an Australian columnist and writer noted for her conservative stance on a range of social and political issues. Her column, formerly printed twice weekly in Fairfax Media newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, now appears in the News Limited Daily Telegraph with...
, had also written a scathing article in response to viewing the email invitation, which precipitated heated talk-back and media discussion throughout the day. In the process of removing the images from the Gallery, Police found more photographs of naked children on exhibition among various large format photographs of nonfigurative subjects, which they later sought to examine for the purposes of determining their legal status under the NSW Crimes Act and child protection legislation. Following discussions with the Gallery and a decision by Henson, the Gallery cancelled the opening and postponed the show.
It was announced on 23 May that a number of the images in the exhibition had been seized by police local Area Commander Alan Sicard, with the intention of charging Bill Henson and/or the Gallery with "publishing an indecent article" under the Crimes Act. The seized images were also removed from the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery website, where the remainder of the series can now be viewed online.
The situation provoked a national debate on censorship. In a televised interview, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
stated that he found the images "absolutely revolting" and that they had "no artistic merit". These views swiftly drew censure from members of the 'creative stream' who attended the recent 2020 Summit
Australia 2020 Summit
The Australia 2020 Summit was a convention, referred to in Australian media as a summit, which was held on 19-20 April 2008 in Canberra, Australia, aiming to "help shape a long term strategy for the nation's future"...
convened by Rudd, led by actor Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
.
On 5 June 2008, the former director of the National Gallery of Australia Betty Churcher said it was "not surprising" that the New South Wales Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would announce its official recommendation that no charges be laid regarding the Sydney Roslyn Oxley9 gallery's collection of photographs by artist Bill Henson.
Ms Churcher says it would have been ridiculous to drag the case through the courts:
On 6 June 2008 it was reported in The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
that police would not prosecute Bill Henson over his photographs of naked teenagers, after they were declared "mild and justified" and given a PG rating by the Australian Classification Board
Australian Classification Board
The Australian Classification Board is a statutory classification body formed by the Australian Government which classifies films, video games and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in Australia since its establishment in 1970. The Australian Classification Board was originally incorporated...
, suggesting viewing by children under the age of 16 is suitable with parental guidance.
Australian scholar Niall Lucy
Niall Lucy
Niall Lucy is an Australian writer and scholar best known for his work in deconstruction.-Career:Niall Lucy is a professor in the School of Media, Culture & Creative Arts at Curtin University, and a former Head of the School of Arts at Murdoch University...
criticizes Devine's response to Henson's art in his 2010 book Pomo Oz: Fear and Loathing Down Under.
Selection of models
On 4 October 2008, Henson became the centre of controversy again after it was revealed in extracts of a book by journalist David MarrDavid Marr (journalist)
David Ewan Marr is an Australian journalist, author, and progressive political and social commentator. His areas of expertise include the law, Australian politics, censorship, the media and the arts...
called The Henson Case that in 2007 he visited St Kilda Park Primary School to pick out potential models for his art work. Henson was allowed entry into the school and escorted by principal Sue Knight around the schoolgrounds and picked two children he thought would be suitable - one child, a boy, was later photographed after his parents were approached by the school on behalf of the artist.
An investigation into the matter was launched by the Department of Education on 6 October 2008. The investigation found that the principal had complied with departmental policy, and had no case to answer.
Exhibitions
A few of his exhibitions:- 1975 Bill Henson, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- 1981 Bill Henson Photographs, Photographers' Gallery, London
- 1989 Bill Henson Fotografien, Museum Moderner Kunst, Palais Liechtenstein, Wien
- 1990 Bill Henson Photographs, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
- 1993 Bill Henson, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
- 1998 Bill Henson, ACP Galerie Peter Schuengel, Salzburg
- 2004 Presence 3: Bill Henson, The Speed Art Museum, Kentucky
- 2006 Bill Henson, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
External links
- Bill Henson at Pavement Magazine Includes a selection of photographs.
- Bill Henson's Mnemosyne by Travis JeppesenTravis JeppesenTravis Jeppesen , Florida is an American novelist, poet, and art critic.He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and moved to New York City at the age of 17. He received his B.A. from The New School, where he studied literature and philosophy...
- Leo Scofield Interviews Bill Henson
- Review of Bill Henson's Mnemosyne by Christian Perring