Bill Henson
(Australian, born 1955)
Biography
Bill Henson is one of Australia’s most notable leading contemporary photographers. Henson’s stark, signature aesthetic is characterized by his use of dramatic chiaroscuro lighting and bokeh blurred backgrounds, carefully employing light as a tool to highlight drama, terror, or awe. Born on October 7, 1955 in Melbourne, Australia, he briefly studied photography at the Prahran College of Advanced Education. Though Henson dropped out at 19, on the recommendation of a teacher he had his first solo show at the National Gallery in Victoria in 1975, with exhibitions soon following at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and the Venice Biennale. Controversy surrounded the photographer in 2008 when an exhibition of his work in Sydney was pulled over protests that the work—which featured young, bare-chested teenage girls—was pedophilia. Ultimately no charges were brought against the artist, and Henson has since shown his work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the National Portrait Gallery in Melbourne, among others.
Bill Henson
(466 results)
.jpg "Untitled (3 works), 1983–1984")
.jpg "Untitled 43, 45, 44 (triptych), 1983–1984")
English (US)
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