MELBOURNE
BORN 1955, Melbourne, Australia LIVES Melbourne STUDIED Prahan College of Advanced Education, Melbourne; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology SERIES “Untitled 2000–2003,” 2000–03 OTHER GENRES Staged
BILL HENSON Hints of buildings, street lamps, roads, and figures slowly emerge from these pitch-black canvases. The compositions, so cloaked by darkness, hide more than they reveal. Australian artist Bill Henson shoots these scenes in the outskirts of Melbourne at the end of the day as the light wanes. He suggests his interest in urban edges is fueled by “the feeling of being on the brink . . . of something.” The same could be said of his attraction to the hours of twilight—the brink between night and day—when just enough illumination remains to suggest muted shapes and shades. Henson adds that 306
AUSTRALIA
he is drawn to “the way in which things go missing in the shadows,” claiming that it is “what you don’t see in the photograph that has the greatest potential to transmit information.” By presenting less, he encourages the viewer to search for more, to let their mind wander and to think creatively. Writer Dennis Cooper envisions the spectral subjects exude blackness like “a paranormal manifestation of some feeling too intense and guarded to register in any other fashion,” whereas curator Susan Bright imagines, “In the darkness they can indulge in what would seem forbidden in daylight.” Henson is interested in photography for unusual reasons. He certainly does not want the fact the work is photographic to override one’s first impression. He argues, “In every form of art, you really want the experience of the images to transcend the medium. When