Bill Henson (b. 1955) is an Australian contemporary photographic artist. Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is the sixth-largest country in the world, the only country to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia/Oceania. ... -1... The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. ...

Background

Henson's art has been exhibited in many locations, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 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 Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. His current practice involves holding one exhibition in Australia every two years, and up to three overseas exhibitions each year. The front of the Guggenheim Museum from 5th Avenue This article refers to the Guggenheim Museum in the upper east side of Manhattan (New York). ... This article is about the state. ... Detail of exhibition. ... National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. ... The City of Melbournes coat of arms The central business district of Melbourne, viewed from the north Alternate meanings: Melbourne (disambiguation) Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia, with a population of 52,117 in the Central... The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) located in The Domain in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the second largest in Australia after the National Gallery of Victoria. ... This is about the city of Sydney in Australia. ... The new buildings of the library. ... This article is about the capital of France. ...

Henson's artworks reflects an interest in ambiguity and transition. The use of chiaroscuro is common throughout his works. His photographs are painterly and often presented as diptychs, triptychs and other groupings. For other use of the term, see Chiaroscuro (disambiguation). ... Painterly is a literal translation of German Mälerisch, hence malerisch, one of the opposed categories popularized by the art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864 - 1945) in order to help focus, enrich and standardize the terms being used by art historians of his time to characterize works of art. ... Ivory consular diptych of Areobindus, Byzantium, 506 AD, Louvre museum A diptych is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. ... The Raising of the Cross, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp A triptych (from the Greek tri- three + ptychē fold) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together. ...

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. Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... For other uses, see Youth (disambiguation) Youth is defined by Websters New World Dictionary as, The time of life when one is young; especially: a: the period between childhood and maturity b: the early period of existence, growth, or development. ... See Adult. ... Look up day in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the time of day. ... For other uses, see Light (disambiguation). ... Darkness is the absence of light. ... This article is about the physical universe. ... For other uses, see Civilization (disambiguation). ... Kazimir Malevich, Black square 1915 Abstract art is now generally understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way. ...

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”.^[1]

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.

Controversies

On 22 May 2008, the opening night of Bill Henson's 2007-2008 exhibition at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, Sydney, was cancelled after Hetty Johnston, a child protection campaigner, lodged a complaint with the New South Wales police.^[2][3]. The exhibition was to include images of naked adolescents, is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. ... In the United States, the term child welfare is used to describe a set of government services designed to protect children and encourage family stability. ... Depictions of nudity refers to nudity in all the artistic disciplines including vernacular and historical depictions. ...

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 him with "publishing an indecent article" under the Crimes Act.^[4] The seized images were also removed from the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery website, where the remainder of the series can now be viewed online.^[5]

On 25 May, The Age published uncensored the image which was used on the print and email invitation, accompanied by an article by John Elder.^[6] This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Reactions

Henson's images were compared to a similar call for removal of art in a public place in Canberra, Australia's national capital, in the week before Henson's art was seized: A shopping centre administration required the removal of seven nude life drawings by Year 11 and 12 high school students, exhibited as part of an annual exhibition at the centre, celebrating Public Education Week^[7]. The exhibition's organiser contrasted these drawings with a suggestive image advertising Wrangler Jeans displayed in a window of the centre. The seven drawings were moved and displayed at the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly building. For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ... Wrangler is one of the oldest and most popular jeans brands in the world. ... The ACT Legislative Assembly building, as seen from the front The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly (or, more formally and fully, the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory. ...

Charges Dropped

On the 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 after all over the Sydney Roslyn Oxley9 gallery's collection of photographs by artist Bill Henson. is the 156th day of the year (157th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ms Churcher says it would have been ridiculous to drag the case through the courts:^[8][9]

I'm very pleased that the public prosecutor has decided that it's likely to end the debacle because they always do, as soon as you take art into court it never works ... The court is not the place to decide matters of art.

On 6 June 2008 it was reported in The Age that police will not prosecute Bill Henson over his photographs of naked teenagers, after they were declared "mild and justified" and given a PG rating^[10] by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, suggesting viewing by children under the age of 16 should only occur under parental supervision. ^[11] is the 157th day of the year (158th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Office of Film and Literature Classification is a statutory censorship and classification body which provides day to day administrative support for the Classification Board which classified films, video games and publications in Australia, and the Classification Review Board which reviews films, computer games and publications when a valid application...

Exhibitions

A few of his exhibitions:^[12]

• 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, Bibliotheque 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 is represented by Tolarno Galleries in Melbourne, Australia.
• Bill Henson at Pavement Magazine Includes a selection of photographs.
• Bill Henson at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery (Internet Archive) Includes an extensive collection of photographs, although many have been taken offline temporarily, due to the current controversy.
• Bill Henson's Mnemosyne by Travis Jeppesen
• Bill Henson photographs taken at twilight. Photography. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
• Art lovers defend exhibition of naked teenagers
• Leo Scofield Interviews Bill Henson
• Review of Bill Henson's Mnemosyne by Christian Perring
• ArtWranglers raises the question of agency

Travis Jeppesen (born September 4, 1979 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is an American novelist and poet. ... The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the worlds largest and finest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 237th day of the year (238th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References