The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square
Level 2
12 Sep 26 – 7 Feb 27, free entry
Open daily 10am–5pm
Bill Henson, who held his first solo exhibition at the NGV in 1975, became a leading figure in Australian photography during the 1990s. In 1995, he represented Australia at the 46th Venice Biennale. Known for his distinctive use of chiaroscuro – the interplay of light and shade – Henson drew on the tonal richness of Old Master paintings while turning his attention to contemporary subjects. In the Paris Opera Project, 1991, he directed his camera towards the audience, capturing the emotional and psychological experience of listening to music.
Henson also continued to develop the photographic collage technique he had begun in the 1980s, assembling cut fragments of prints on plywood or cardboard supports with tacks and tape. In his 1994–97 series, this approach reached a new scale and ambition, placing figures within twilight landscapes of abandoned cars and undergrowth. Works from the series formed part of his 1995 Venice Biennale exhibition.
This display focuses on Henson’s work of the 1990s, bringing together portraits, interiors and landscapes that convey a cinematic sense of transience. Together, these works reveal how Henson transformed light, atmosphere and photographic form into a distinctive vision of contemporary experience.