Bill Henson caused immense controversy when his 2007-08 exhibition at the Roslyn Oxley Gallery in Sydney opened. Both the exhibition invites and exhibition itself featured photographs of young adolescents naked, and was attacked by child protection crusaders - the exhibition closed down a week after it opened.
Are these images pornographic? Do they incite paedophilia? The controversy still rages.
The adolescents in his photos are liminal creatures existing between childhood and adulthood, between innocence and sexualization - I see Henson as a master at capturing this confused and fragile space they inhabit. Regardless of my personal beliefs or interpretations of his works, there is no doubt that Henson's photographs are exquisite, the cold light which haunts his portraits is desperately moving and his desolate nighttime urban and industrial landscapes are beautifully unsettling. Bill Henson, you are a master.
No comments:
Post a Comment