Monday, October 12, 2009
Beacuse I havn't written about him on here...yet
Bill Henson sparked a massive media outcry back in 2008 for an exhibition that was quickly and foolishly labeled "child_porn" by the Australian Media Machine. The Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney, Australia was raided by police and several of Henson's images were seized. Some his images, those seized and creating such a media scrum, feature young girls right in cusp of adolescence. The rest of Henson's work is dark, harsh and incredibly moody and it seems that the combination of these aspects with the misunderstanding that Henson was trying to sexualise these young people has lead to such an intense media storm.
Below is one of the images seized by Police preceding the later dropped court case against Henson under the Australian Child Protection Act. 20 of 41 of his images were seized.
There is some interesting writing on blogs all over this issue, Here and also Here are links to a couple of them...
Personally, i find Henson's work incredibly powerful, dark and very moving. his images are imbued with a sense of gritty darkness and i am continuously drawn to them for this. In terms of weighing in on the "porn" debate i dont feel as if i need to...but if our society has come to a point where art (photography or otherwise) that pushes our social boundaries, makes us sit up and take notice, makes us question things or provokes a powerful emotional response is going to get the artist locked up.......well..... i might as well quit now.
I also find it very weird that i feel the need no wait, i feel "socially obliged" to put turn on the "adult content warning" for the blog because i have that image in here....hmm....
Below is one of the images seized by Police preceding the later dropped court case against Henson under the Australian Child Protection Act. 20 of 41 of his images were seized.
There is some interesting writing on blogs all over this issue, Here and also Here are links to a couple of them...
Personally, i find Henson's work incredibly powerful, dark and very moving. his images are imbued with a sense of gritty darkness and i am continuously drawn to them for this. In terms of weighing in on the "porn" debate i dont feel as if i need to...but if our society has come to a point where art (photography or otherwise) that pushes our social boundaries, makes us sit up and take notice, makes us question things or provokes a powerful emotional response is going to get the artist locked up.......well..... i might as well quit now.
I also find it very weird that i feel the need no wait, i feel "socially obliged" to put turn on the "adult content warning" for the blog because i have that image in here....hmm....
Saturday, October 10, 2009
ImageFest
mmm subway...
Impromptu fashion shoot...
Brooklyn Bridge yo
Never let me on the subway with a camera. Im a creep.
this is how the human race views art now...
More NY images...
Times Square/.
Late Night Reflection/.
I love these reflective dome thingys haha.
This is obviously just a couple on here, if you hit of FaceBeardBook there a whole heap more there.
The Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was another highlight of NYC. AT the end of last month they had opened a collection of works by Robert Frank entitled "Looking In: Robert Franks The Americans" To quote the Met's website:
This exhibition celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Americans, Robert Frank’s influential suite of black-and-white photographs made on a cross-country road trip in 1955–56. Although Frank’s depiction of American life was criticized when the book was released in the U.S. in 1959, it soon became recognized as a masterpiece of street photography. Born in Switzerland in 1924, Frank is considered one of the great living masters of photography. The exhibition will feature all 83 photographs published in The Americans and will be the first time that this body of work is presented to a New York audience.
U.S. 285, New Mexico, 1955
Gelatin silver print; 13 1/4 x 8 5/8 in. (33.7 x 21.9 cm)
I have to admit i had only vaugly heard of The Americans as photographic book so it was an interesting surprise to see the entire book layed out in print form. Robert Frank was a very interesting photographer, the way he depicted American society was radically different for the time period he was creating these images.
The image below was one of the most powerful for me in the whole exhibition. The way in which the focus is on the people rather than the starlet in the foreground, the way in which the camera is watching them watch her and we are watching them makes for an incredibly dynamic and striking image. The many layers of watched and watchers i think sets this image apart and it had a profound impact on me for its simplicity but effective nature.
This exhibition celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Americans, Robert Frank’s influential suite of black-and-white photographs made on a cross-country road trip in 1955–56. Although Frank’s depiction of American life was criticized when the book was released in the U.S. in 1959, it soon became recognized as a masterpiece of street photography. Born in Switzerland in 1924, Frank is considered one of the great living masters of photography. The exhibition will feature all 83 photographs published in The Americans and will be the first time that this body of work is presented to a New York audience.
U.S. 285, New Mexico, 1955
Gelatin silver print; 13 1/4 x 8 5/8 in. (33.7 x 21.9 cm)
I have to admit i had only vaugly heard of The Americans as photographic book so it was an interesting surprise to see the entire book layed out in print form. Robert Frank was a very interesting photographer, the way he depicted American society was radically different for the time period he was creating these images.
The image below was one of the most powerful for me in the whole exhibition. The way in which the focus is on the people rather than the starlet in the foreground, the way in which the camera is watching them watch her and we are watching them makes for an incredibly dynamic and striking image. The many layers of watched and watchers i think sets this image apart and it had a profound impact on me for its simplicity but effective nature.
The Devils worship is lazyness...
Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s “Untitled” (Golden)
In the uppermost floor/level of the Gugenheim Museum, once you make it past the powerful and inspiring retrospective of Kandinsky that fills the entire rotunda, you come a room like that in the above image. From floor to ceiling (over 3 metres above you) stretch's a luxurious gold bead curtain. Through the shimmering movement of the golden beads is something even more seductive on the floor beyond the curtain. As you gently push through the beads you come to a lrge atrium space, beautifully lit with natural light. The only object in the gallery is on the floor in front of you; 2 pounds (0.9KG) of gold compressed in to a delicately thin mat. It was incredible, it shimmers and moves as the light changes around it and threatens to dissolve into the floor and vainsh!
The interaction of these two works was incredible, the interplay on the simplest of colours and objects created a very powerful space. One that seemed even more overwhelming after the sensory experience of Kandinsky works. The exploration of the symbolism of gold and the attachments we make to this colour / material was simple and at the same time incredibly powerful. I think part of this was also the tactile nature of having to physically push through Gonzalez-Torres’s bead curtain after an entre gallery of only being able to look. To suddenly employ another sense was very powerful and set the viewer up to interact with the beautiful materiality of Horn's shimmering, almost translucent mat.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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