Darren Rowse at Problogger has created a new group writing project- Killer Titles and it has inspired me to start a blog project of my own that I have been planning on for some time…. I know a few of you out there already use it really well (better than me in all likelihood!)… this may be a stupid idea, I don’t know but I’d like to give it a shot – even if it’s only for reference for myself!
The seizure of the photographs, and the possible prosecution of Mr Henson, the Rosyln Oxley9 Gallery or the parents of Henson’s subjects, takes up valuable police and court time that would be much better spent pursuing those who actually do abuse children. [From Open letter in support of Bill Henson – National – theage.com.au ] Around the country, while some galleries are cravenly pulling their Henson pieces out of their collections and off the walls other galleries are standing firm and standing up for freedom of artistic expression…. Mr Savill, like many of his art industry colleagues, was appalled when police last week confiscated photographs by Henson – one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists – and decided to hang the picture beside an Arthur Boyd nude, “to remind people that nudes have inspired artists for centuries”.
[From Art, not porn – Opinion – theage.com.au ] I have been thinking further about the issue of sexualization of teens in art. I think if the case against Bill Henson were to go through we will start to see extreme limitations in the freedom of expression and artistic freedom…. [From Art, not porn – Opinion – theage.com.au ] I agree with this, by trying to anticipate what might turn a pedophile on we may be stepping into their shoes and thereby, not only destroying our own view of art, but possibly ruining the experience for others…. we can stop trying to predict them, stop trying to anticipate what they might find titillating and risk damaging freedom of art and expression, the reputations of renowned artists and focus instead on making sure our children are safe and educated.
One of the Controversial works by Bill Henson Photograph from the Age Officers raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, in Paddington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, just before the exhibition was due to open on Thursday night…. The raid, and the prospect of an artist facing criminal charges, has reignited the debate about what constitutes art. [From Law Society backs nude child pics artist – Breaking News – National – Breaking News ] I have been so angry about this whole mess that I haven’t been able to write coherently till now…. the police raid and seizures, the statement by Prime minister Kevin Rudd that these works are ‘revolting’, the galleries that are also pulling Bill Henson’s works from their collections or the constant newspaper articles referring to these artworks, by one of Australia’s premier artists, as ‘”art”‘.
We must see to it that the man looking at the picture has at hand everything he needs to paint a nude. If you really give him everything he needs — and the best — he’ll put everything where it belongs, with his own eyes. Each person will make for himself the kind of nude he wants, with the nude that I will have made for him.
Now, Liam has never liked the smell of turps anyway (the odorless is worse though, much worse for both of us) so it’s time something was done. I have enough poisons and problems with my system without adding further ones to the mix, I wanted to upgrade to better quality paints anyway so today I took the plunge and ordered some Windsor and Newton Artisan Oil Paints. these are legitimate oils in every sense, but the oil in them has been treated to accept water rather than repel it, meaning that they can be cleaned with soap and water.
I have the cats to keep me company but to be honest – they sleep a lot and get grumpy when I talk to them and wake them up. I don’t miss my old day job, but I do miss the camaraderie, people to share thoughts with, no matter how little or banal…. I tend to get very insular and agoraphobic if I don’t maintain human contact and twitter is the ideal way for me to do that without giving up my privacy to paint or overly distracting me from work.
Or I could mention the market fluxes such as the fact that Lucien Freud is huge in the market at the moment, that his works have been seeing a surge in prices in the past few years – but what I really want to talk about is the feel of this work and why it is actually beautiful rather than ugly…. he pointed out every flaw, every shred of humanity and forces us to acknowledge that – but to also see that that reality is what is beautiful, those flaws are what makes her a person and that as a person she is beautiful. he is saying look at this woman, she isn’t perfect, she has her flaws but she is a work of art – every person holds within them a work of art because we all have beauty.
Masquerade – 10 x 12 Oils on Canvas by Jennie Rosenbaum Having been a year since I installed and added custom CSS to my blog layout, I thought it was finally time to fix all those niggly little errors that have been residing in the back of my mind…. I sat and looked at the menu bar, now fully back in alignment, for a good five minutes just feeling happy that it was finally done!… the plan is, that I wont have any of these little issues bugging me when I can get back into the studio.
We must see to it that the man looking at the picture has at hand everything he needs to paint a nude. If you really give him everything he needs — and the best — he’ll put everything where it belongs, with his own eyes. Each person will make for himself the kind of nude he wants, with the nude that I will have made for him.
Jennie's Palette 