Bill Henson

Bill Henson’s photographs, first exhibited at Robert Miller in 2004, demonstrate the artist’s interest in the duality of nature and artifice, in adolescence, and in the distinction between male and female. These beautiful and mysterious images are characterized by chiaroscuro, translucent skin tones, and jewel-tone colors that add an ethereal quality to ambiguous settings. Bill Henson’s works are in many international collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and in every major public collection in Australia.

2010 - present

SELECTED PRESS

2013

2012

2011

2010

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

James Gorman, `Largest collection of Bill Henson works to be hung in AGNSW exhibition', Daily Telegraph, April 19, 2013

Patrick Hartigan, “Bill Henson's Cloud Landscapes”, The Monthly, September 2013

John Mcdonald, `Body Issues', SMH, September 15-16, 2012

Deborah Stone, `With light must come shadown', SMH, September 18, 2012

Alexandra Spring, `New Bill Henson Exhbition', Vogue Australia, 18th Sept, 2012

John Mcdonald, 'Finding Form', Australian Art Collector, October-December, 2012

Lisa Omagari, 'Bill Henson', Concrete Playground, September 2012.

John Mcdonald, 'Edgy insights into the soul and self', Spectrum, April 9-10, 2011, pp. 10-11

Helen Mcdonald, 'It's Rude to Stare', Artlink, Issue 31 No. 3, 2011, pp. 24-27

Christopher Allen, `Metaphors of ephemeral beauty', The Australian, May 10, 2010.

John Mcdonald, `Finding refuge in the landscape', Spectrum-SMH, May 15-16, 2010 pp. 14-15

'Current, Contemporary Art from Australia and New Zealand', Art and Australia (eds.), Sydney, 2008, p. 144

Sebastien Smee, `Forget Me Not', The Weekend Australian, April 5-6, 2008, pp.18-19

Tony Stephens, `Bill Henson', Photofile, No. 81, Spring 2007, pp.69 - 71.

Marilena Astrapellou, `Bill Henson: In The Crepuscule of Desire', Next Level, edition 11, 2007, pp.62-69

Review of `Bill Henson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney', The artlife, 2006

Sunandah Creagh, 'Bill Henson', in Open Gallery, Spectrum, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 29-30, 2006, p.16

Sebastian Smee, `The shadowy existence of Bill Henson', Artist Interview, The Art Newspaper, No. 169, May 2006, p. 40

Robert McFarlane, `A playful eye charts `60s surrealism', in `Arts & Entertainment', The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday July 11, 2006, p.13

Sunanda Creagh, `It's all about the shadow play', in `Arts & Entertainment', The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday July 5, 2006, p.15

Kyla McFarlane, `Bill Henson: 3 Decades of Photography', Eyeline, no. 58, Spring 2005, pp. 37 - 39

Michael Reid, `Pictures worth more than a 1000 whirrs', The Australian, February 25, 2005

Charles Green, `Bill Henson, National Gallery of Victoria', Artforum, 2005

Helen McDonald, `Francesca Alfano Miglietti (FAM), 'Extreme Bodies: The Use and Abuse of the Body in Art', Art Monthly Australia, June 2005, p.12

Annette Larkin, Justin Miller and Damian Hackett, `going, going, gone…', Three auction house experts reveal their top 10 favourite Australian artists to watch…,' Vogue Living, May-June 2005, p.110

Dominic Sidhu, `Nocturne: The Photographs of Bill Henson', Interview with Bill Henson, EGO Magazine, August 29, 2005

`Bill Henson, photographer,' Box Magazine, no. 6, Autumn 2005, pp.30-35

Richard Kalina, `Report from Downunder: Down Under no more', Art in America, April 2005, pg.77

Justin Clemens, `3 Decades of Photography, by Bill Henson', The Monthly, May 2005

Gina McColl, `Dark lord of the camera', preview, The Sunday Age, April 17, 2005, p.4

Geraldine O'Brien, `Out of the Shadows', Melbourne Magazine, April 2005, p.60

Samela Harris, Addicted to art', Australian Art Collector, Issue 32, April 2005, p.118

`Bill Henson photographer', Box magazine, Autumn 2005, p.30.

Sebastian Smee, `Bill Henson,' Art & Australia, Autumn 2005, Vol 42, No. 3, p.396

Andrew Frost, `Bill Henson,' state of the arts, Art Now, Jan-Mar 2005, p.82

Joanna Mendelssohn, previews `Bill Henson,' Australian Art Collector, Issue 31, January -March 2005, p.173

Russell Smith, `Bill Henson: Three Decades of Photography', Contemporary Visual Arts + Culture, Broadsheet, Volume 34, No. 1, March-May 2005, pp.46-48

Christopher Allen, `Of waifs and chandeliers: photographs that reach into the mind,' The Australian Financial Review, 10th February 2005, p.43

Sebastian Smee, `Touch of innocence,' Weekend Australian, January 22-23, (Review: Arts) pp.18-19

Charles Green, `Preview: Sydney, Bill Henson - Art Gallery of New South Wales,' ArtForum International, January 2005, XLIII, No. 5, p.98

Dominique Angeloro, `Thrill Bill,' Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 21 - 27, 2005, p.26 (Metro)

Rosalie Higson, `Emerging from the shadows,' The Australian, Friday, January 7, p.16

Ben Cubby, `Tenderness, fragility, violence, violation: images that stir the mind and rock the heart,' Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, January 7, p.7 (News)

Bec Dean and Robert Cook, `Bill Henson: Interview,' Photofile, #73, Summer 2005, pp.18-23

John McDonald, `Bill Henson: 3 Decades of Photography,' Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald, January 29, 2005

Jean Dykstra, `Review of Bill Henson at Robert Miller Gallery,' Art in America, December 2004

Nellie Castan, `New York - The Armory Show 2004,' ART EXPO, 2004, p.30

Michael Heyward, `Untitled Series 1983-84,' Lumiere, Couture Show catalogue, 2004

Janet Hawley, `In the realm of the senses,' Good Weekend, The Sydney Morning Herald Magazine, December 18, pp.18 - 25

Judy Annear, `The Elusive Bill Henson,' LOOK, Art Gallery Society of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, pp.28 - 31

David Broker, `The Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art,' Eyeline #54, Winter 2004, p.44 - 46

Victoria Pederson, `Market File: Art of Darkness,' Art + Auction, May 2004, p.145

Chris Boyd, `Bill Henson's lightness of being,' The Weekend Australian Financial Review, May 29-30, 2004, p.36

Victoria Pederson, `Art & Auction Marketfile: Art of darkness - Bill Henson,' The New Yorker, May 2004, p.145

`Goings on About Town: Photography,' The New Yorker, March 8, 2004, p.18

Michael Fitzgerald, `Not Dying, Changing,' TIME, March 22, 2004, pp.62-63

Blair French, `Bill Henson: Darkness on the Edge of Town,' Eyeline #53, 2004, pp.34 - 37

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions

2013

2012

2011

2010-12

2010

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995-96

1995

Cloud Landscapes, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

Untitled 1985/86, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne

Bill Henson: Across Time, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle

Diane Arbus, Bill Henson, Robert Mapplethorpe, Robert Miller Gallery, New York

Bill Henson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Bill Henson, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne

Bill Henson: early work from the Monash Gallery of Art collection, travelling exhibition.

Bill Henson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Bill Henson, Robert Miller Gallery, New York

Bill Henson, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane

Bill Henson, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne

Bill Henson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Bill Henson, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago

Bill Henson, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA

Bill Henson: 2003-2004 Newcastle Region Art Gallery Acquisitions, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle.

Bill Henson: Three Decades of Photography, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Presence 3: Bill Henson, The Speed Art Museum, Kentucky, USA

Bill Henson, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, Australia

Bill Henson, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago

Bill Henson, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA

Bill Henson, Lux et Nox, book launch, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, Australia [itinerary: Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Australia]

Bill Henson, Centro de Fotografia, University of Salamanca, Spain

Bill Henson, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, Australia

Bill Henson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Australia, November-December
Bill Henson, Scalo, Zurich, Switzerland, September - November

Bill Henson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Australia, March
Bill Henson, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, Australia, August

Bill Henson, Karyn Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, March

Bill Henson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Australia, May - June
Bill Henson, ACP Galerie Peter Schuengel, Salzburg, Austria, January - February

Bill Henson, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne International Festival of Arts, Melbourne, Australia, October - November

Bill Henson, Banning and Associates, New York, USA, February.
Bill Henson: Photographs form the Monash City Council Collection, March
Bill Henson, Recent Works from 1995/96, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, April - May
Bill Henson, Works from The 46th Venice Biennale, [itinerary: Lawrence Wilson Gallery, Perth, Australia (February - March); Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (April - May); National Gallery of Victoria (May - June); Art Gallery of New South Wales (July - September); Plimsoll Gallery University of Hobart (October - November)

Bill Henson, 46th Venice Biennale, Australian Pavilion (June - September)
Bill Henson, Galerie Froment & Putman, Paris, August - September
Bill Henson, Photographs, Peter McCleavey Gallery, Wellington, November.

Group Exhibitions

2013

2012

2011

2010

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

Australia, Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Beautiful Creatures, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand

Mix Tape 1980 s: Appropriation, Subculture, Critical Style, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

New 2013: Selected Recent Acquisitions, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane

Under My Skin: Contemporary Australian Photography from the Corrigan Collection, Rockhampton Art Gallery, Rockhampton

The Youth Code!, curated Natalie Herschderfer, Chrisoph Guy, Zurich

Elsewhere, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand

Destiny Deacon, Fiona Hall, Bill Henson, Tracey Moffatt, TV Moore, Julie Rrap, Anne Zahalka, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Naked, Jensen Gallery, Sydney

Zurich Film Festival Exhibition, Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland

Teen City, Musee de l'Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland, curated by Nathalie Herschdorfer

People and Places: Selections from the Allen Thomas Jr. Photography Collection, SECCA (Southeastern Centre for Contemporary Art), North Carolina

Supercharged: the car in contemporary culture, IMA touring show - Logan Art Gallery, Redcliffe Art Gallery

DeOverkant/Downunder, Den Haag Sculpture 2007, Netherlands

Intimacy, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, The University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts, Sydney

Supercharged: the car in contemporary culture, IMA touring show - 24Hr Art, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Pinnacles Gallery

Strange Cargo: Contemporary art as a state of encounter, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, Orange Regional Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and Tweed River Regional Gallery

Supercharged: the car in contemporary culture, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane

Twilight: Photography in the Magic Hour, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Black & Blue, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA

The Year in Art, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

Perception, The Daryl Hewson Photographic Collection, Queensland Centre for Photography, Bulimba, QLD, Australia

The Subjective Figure, Robert Miller Gallery, New York

C'town Bling, curator Anne Loxley, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW, Australia

10/21 - VCA at the Venice Biennale, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia

The Children's Hour, Museum of New Art, Detroit, USA

Almost, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA

Auto Fetish: The Mechanics of Desire, curated by Nick Mitzevich, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Newcastle, New South Wales

Penumbra: Images of Light and Darkness, McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Langwarrin, Victoria

Night Vision, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney

Written with Darkness, UTS Gallery, University of Technology, Sydney

The Plot Thickens: Narratives in Australian Art, A Heide Museum of Modern Art Travelling Art Exhibition, Melbourne

Satellite cities and tabloid life, MUMA Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne Presence, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky (through to March 2005)

2004 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Contemporary Photo-media, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia

Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video, International Center of Photography, New York

MCA Unpacked II, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

Stellar, Centre of Contemporary Photography Fundraising Auction, Centre of Contemporary Photography, Melbourne

Through their lens, Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford

Child in Time, Gemeente Museum Helmond, Helmond, The Netherlands

Portraiture, Karen Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles

Flagship: Australian Art in the National Gallery of Victoria, 1790 - 2000, The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

SEX, Karen Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles, California

Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968 - 2002, National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square, Melbourne (November 2002 to February 2003)

Points of View, University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, UTS, Sydney

Sublime: 25 Years of the Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia

2nd Sight Australian Photography in the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2002

Dirty Dozen, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
The First Twenty Years, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Nocturne: Images of Night & Darkness from Colonial to Contemporary, 23 April - 16 June, MPRG Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Images of Australian Men: Photographs from the Monash Gallery of Art Collection, A Monash Gallery of Art Travelling Exhibition (Adelaide Festival Centre, Gippsland Art Gallery, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, Geelong Art Gallery) 24 May 2002 - 21 Sept. 2003
Other Views: an exhibition from the Griffith University Art Collection, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland

Phiction: lies, illusion and the phantasm in photography, Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia, December
a person looks at a work of art…, The Michael Buxton Contemporary Art Collection, 24 November 2001- 3 December 2002, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Victoria, Australia
Lightness of Being, Contemporary Photographic Art from Australia, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, September - October; Museum Scholb Hardenberg, Velbert, November - January; Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, January - February; Kulturzentrum der Stadt Stuttgart, March - April, Germany

Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Millennium Exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Museum
Presumed Innocent, CAPC Musee d'Art contemporain de Bordeaux, France
All Stars 2000, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Darkness & light: looking at the landscape, McClelland Gallery; Ballarat Fine Art Gallery; Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2013

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

1999

1998

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1986

1985

1984

1983

1982

1981

1980

1975

Higgins, Jackie. Why It Does Not Have To Be In Focus: Modern Photography Explained, United Kingdom; Thames and Hudson, 2013, pp. 130-131.

Supercharged: the car in contemporary culture, essays by Glen Fuller and Vanessa McRae. Brisbane: Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2006.

Twilight: Photography in the Magic Hour (exhibition catalogue), Victoria and Albert Museum, London: Merrell Publications, 2006.

10/21, VCA at the Venice Biennale, (exhibition catalogue), Melbourne: Victorian College of the Arts, 2005.

Bill Henson: Mnemosyne, Galerie Scalo (Berlin, Zurich, New York) and Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney), artist monograph accompanying exhibition Bill Henson: Three Decades of Photography, 2005.

Woodrow, Ingrid, and Nick Mitzevich. Auto Fetish: The Mechanics of Desire (exhibition catalogue), Newcastle, NSW: Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Nov 04 - Jan 05, 2004.

Israel, Glenis. Senior Artwise: Visual Arts 11 - 12, 2nd edition. Brisbane: Jacaranda / John Wiley, Inc. 2004, pp.170 -174.

Nichols, Matthew Guy. `Bill Henson,' in Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video (exhibition catalogue), New York: International Center of Photography, 2003, pp. 48-51.

Duncan, Jenepher, and Linda Michael (eds.) Monash University Collection: Four Decades of Collecting. Victoria: Monash University and Monash University Museum of Art, 2003, p. 40-44, 91.

Child in Time (exhibition catalogue). Helmond, Netherlands: Gemeente Museum Helmond, 2003, p. 28.

Jaeggi, Martin, and Walter Keller (eds). Bill Henson: Lux et Nox, Zurich: Scalo Publishers, 2002.

Prager, Lisa, Margaret Trudgeon, and Dianne Waite. Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968 - 2002 (exhibition catalogue). Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2002, pp. 72 - 77.

McDonald, Ewen (ed). Points of View (exhibition catalogue). Sydney: University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, 2002.

Crombie, Isobel, and Susan Van Wyk. 2nd Sight Australian Photography in the National Gallery of Victoria (exhibition catalogue). Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2002, p. 111 (pp. 104,105 detail).

Timms, Peter. Images of Australian Men: Photographs from the Monash Gallery of Art Collection, A Monash Gallery of Art Travelling Exhibition (exhibition catalogue). Wheelers Hill, Victoria: The Gallery, 2002.

McAloon, William. Home and Away: Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art from the Chartwell Collection. Auckland : Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki in association with David Bateman, 1999, pp. 76-7, 136.

Sabau, Luminita (ed.). The Promise of Photography: The DG Bank Collection, Munich: Prestel, 1998.

Allen, Christopher. Art in Australia - From Colonization to Postmodernism. United Kingdom: Thames and Hudson, 1997.

Bill Henson (exhibition catalogue). Australian Pavillion, 46th Venice Biennale, Venice: Australian Exhibitions Touring Agency Ltd (AETA), 1995.

Bill Henson: Paris Opera Project (exhibition catalogue). Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 1993.
Van Assche, Christine and David, Catherine, Passages de L'Image (exhibition catalogue). Paris: Éditions du Centre Pompidou, 1991.

Bill Henson Photographs, 1974 - 1984 (exhibition catalogue). Carlton, Victoria: Deutscher Fine Art, 1989.

Chevrier, Jean-François. Photo-kunst (exhibition catalogue), Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie, 1989.

Bond, Tony and Terence Maloon. Australian Bicentennial Perspecta (exhibition catalogue) Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1987, pp. 44 - 53.

Weiermair, Peter. Prospect 86, Eine Internationale Austellung Aktueller Kunst (exhibition catalogue). Frankfurt: Frankfurter Kunstverein, 1986, pp. 97 - 98, 253, 299 - 300.

Bill Henson - Untitled 1983/1984 (exhibition catalogue). Canberra: Australian National Gallery, 1986.

Heyward, Michael. Bill Henson Photographs (exhibition catalogue). Melbourne: Pinacotheca, 1985.
Bonite Oliva, Achille, Paul Taylor, and Judith Backhall. Isolaustralia (exhibition catalogue). Venice: Galleria Bevilacqua La Masa, 1985, pp. 11, 26 - 27.

Waldman, Diane and Memory Holloway. Australian Visions,1984 Exxon International Exhibition (exhibition catalogue). New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1984.

Le Magny, Jean-Claude. La Photographie Creative (exhibition catalogue). Paris: Bibliotheque Nationale, 1984, pp. 288 - 291.

Murphy, Bernice and Janet Parfenovics. Australian Perspecta 1973 - 81 (exhibition catalogue). Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1983, p.120.

Godden, Christine. C.S.R. Photography Project; Recent Work (exhibition catalogue). Sydney: C.S.R., 1983, p. 3.

North, Ian. A Decade of Australian Photography 1972-82 (exhibition catalogue). Canberra: Australian National Gallery, 1983, pp. 2, 6, 7, 10.

Lynn, Elwyn. Biennale of Sydney: Vision in Disbelief (exhibition catalogue). Sydney: Biennale of Sydney, 1982, p. 55.
Carter, Mick and Lutz Presser (eds.). Sexual Imagery in Art (exhibition catalogue). Hobart: University of Tasmania, 1982.
Murphy, Bernice. Australian Perspecta 1981: A Biennale Survey of Contemporary Australian Art (exhibition catalogue). Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1981, p. 89.
Newton, Gael. Project 38: Re-constructed Vision : Contemporary Work with Photography (exhibition catalogue). Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1981.
Py, Jacques and Bernard-Zavier Vaillhen. Scene, Sequence, Series (exhibition catalogue). Paris: Centre Cultural Gaslin, 1981, pp.24 - 25.
Bill Henson Photographs (exhibition catalogue). London: Photographers' Gallery & Arts Council of Great Britian, 1981.
Mollison, James. Australian Photographers: The Philip Morris Collection (exhibition catalogue). Canberra, Australian National Gallery, 1980, pp. 68, 103.
Willis, Ann-Marie. Aspects of The Philip Morris Collection: Four Australian Photographers (exhibition catalogue). Sydney: Visual Arts Board and Australia Council, 1980, pp. 10, 23 - 39, 70
Boddington, Jennie. Bill Henson (exhibition catalogue). Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 1975.