Last night I had my first chance to attend a Bill Henson opening. Yes I am a fan, yes I have been following him since the early 80s & love his work. I am certainly not alone there; this was the biggest crowd I have ever seen at Roslyn Oxley9 and possibly the biggest opening crowd I have seen outside a major art event.
The show was opened by Edmund Capon and I was fortunate enough to witness a rather beautiful moment on E.C.s arrival. Quite a wonderful greeting, Bill, Edmund, Roslyn; at the top of the stairs, a show of intimate solidarity. Then everyone that could made there way toward the already very full main gallery. Edmund gave an inspired speech reported in part in the Sydney Morning Herald Here & Here. I am not sure about Miranda Devine's comment in the SMH about no cameras in the gallery. I waved my G10 around over my 6'4" head and no-one said boo to me!
E.C. set the record straight right off the bat with, in a nutshell something like,
They are big, they all have the same title (untitled) and they are 30K each. They are beautiful, they speak to us and they are not porn (they never have been).
The show is beautiful. Some critics seem to be making with the idea that the show is turned down. I think Bill has always been about beauty and the volume has been turned up! Yes, I got a bit of a feeling of, well just can't say it... OK a big FU to those who think the work is just about nudes. But I can't imagine Bill actually saying that.
It's a brilliant show. The prints are his first using digital printing technology which is quite significant in and of itself. Master prints of course.
Roslyn Oxley9 Go see it for yourself till June 5.
3 comments:
I heard that his supplies of analogue ran out so he went digital
Stuart, I heard he had a flooded darkroom! Mate of mine picked up some nice pieces after that... Maybe a double whammy but the digital prints are beautiful! I would never have known...
cool blog, thanks.
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