Everybody has heard about the Bill Henson controversy. On May 25 it hit newspapers and TV news programs. His photographs from his most recent exhibit of naked teenagers were seized by police. And since then the debate has raged.
What you might not know is that Newcastle was mentioned in connection with this.
I have heard the phrase, “shame on Newcastle” at least twice, once on radio and once by a woman in a cafe describing the photographs of Henson’s work that until recently hung in the Newcastle Region Art Gallery.
Huh? Shame on Newcastle? Are these people kidding me? Why shame on Newcastle? The city and the council owned and operated gallery did nothing wrong. So where is the shame?
The pictures in question are three photos from the Strange Cargo exhibit that have been hanging in the gallery for many years without incident. I’ve seen the work myself and I for one thought they were impressive.
The knee jerk reactions from concerned nitwits and right wing media representatives came after the police asked the gallery to remove and store the artwork in a secure area until the allegations against Bill Henson are proven or dismissed and the wider investigation concluded.
Again, where is the shame they spoke of? This seems to be a precautionary tactic to me. Being crucified by the media, like Henson has been, could be damaging to any business and who better than the media to do that. People tend to remember the bad things even if they are not true, I get that, but shame on Newcastle?
So what is the problem? Well, some people didn’t like the photographs that where to be displayed in the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Melbourne and as a result all of the artist’s work is in question as are the galleries that display it.
If you have been living in a vacuum for the last few weeks, I’ll lay it all on the table before taking a snap shot and hanging it on my wall.
The exhibit of Henson photographs of naked adolescents was removed by police from the above mentioned gallery on May 24 after a formal complaint was made by Hetty Johnstone of the child sexual assault advocacy group Bravehearts over the representation of the teenagers in the photos.
The concern was that the dark and moody photos sexualised the teenagers. And because of this they were seized under section 91G of the NSW Crimes Act which prohibits the use of children for pornographic purposes. And since the seizure, the artist and the gallery have received threats of violence ranging from murder and physical assault to destruction of property and arson.
Everybody has an opinion about all this and I feel it is my duty to throw my two cents worth in because for no other reason Newcastle was dumped into the argument and what kind of blogger would be if I didn’t comment on all the same things everyone else does.
Okay, first, does anyone think these photos where intended for pornographic purposes? Henson is an artist and a world renowned one at that, he has had his work displayed at the Louvre for God’s sake. Are there people out there that really think Henson would jeopardise his career and reputation for a few naughty pictures?
These photos are art, pure and simple, they do have artist merit and they are not as horrific as some factions of society would have you believe. Everybody has seen them in the papers by now and if we didn’t know the ages of the models I doubt anyone would really care in the wider sense.
One of the comments made is that these photos, like other media, sexualise the teenagers. And with a Scottish accent I reply No They Don’t. Teenagers, and even younger than that, don’t need adults to sexualise them in any way shape or form because people they do it themselves.
I have seen 12-year-old girls walking next to their mothers wearing clothes sluttier than most streetwalkers. Tiny belt-like skirts, knee high boots, make-up, even bras for girls that haven’t hit puberty yet and all the other crap these kids wear are bought by the same parents who complain about too many inappropriate images in the media. Well they can’t have too much of a problem with it if they supply these children with this sexualised clothing. Career day at school could become strange.
The sexualisation point was made alongside another. Kevin Rudd himself was quoted as saying, “Whatever the artistic merits of that sort of stuff – frankly I don’t think there are any – just allow kids to be kids.”
I would love it if we all left kids alone and allow them to grow and make their own mistakes like wash the dog in the washing machine, eat snails in the garden, or even simply get dirty, make simple decisions in adolescence, kiss a member of the opposite sex. But unfortunately it is next to impossible because of parents, teachers, police, human interest groups and politicians.
We as a nation, no as a planet, have protected these kids to much to the point they are socially stunted, more prone to illness because of a weak immune system due to parents fear of gems, etc. The world seems to have a child protection fetish that is hurting the growth of children.
The children involved in the art work where not exploited, and they were not made to do anything they were uncomfortable with and they weren’t pulled off the streets for illicit acts. Their parents knew all about it. Documents and contacts were signed and parents and guardians were a part of the process.
Do you honestly think in this day and age of over-protection, that if Henson went too far or his intentions were not that of an artistic endeavour, would any of us doubt these kids parents would not have stopped it or reported Henson? They didn’t and they haven’t. As a matter of fact they have come out in support of Henson.
The other part of the Prime Minister’s comment about artistic merit seems ill-fated to slate him back in the face. Rudd’s own nephew has been the victim of artistic censorship, of which Henson is now the victim of, and about half of the people the K-Rudd asked to the 2020 summit, like Cate Blanchett, Peter Goldsworthy, Ana Kokkinos, Hugh Jackman and economist Saul Eslake, have all come out to show their support for Henson.
No court in the land would be able to convict the artist Bill Henson. Because in the end censorship is bad and we all know it, children know more than we give them credit for, and Newcastle has got nothing to do with it. So leave it alone.
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