Press release

CONTACT: Jennie Rosenbaum at 0433 619 604 or (03)8516 1006 1/31 Nullawil St, Springvale, Victoria 3171 jennie@jennierosenbaum.com http://www.jennierosenbaum.com Recovery comes full circle through an art exhibition by critically acclaimed artist Jennie Rosenbaum Purity is a celebration of life and experience, a journey of recovery and discovery held at Box Hill Community Arts Center Gallery MELBOURNE, Victoria — June 25, 2008 — The body has long held a fascination for Jennie Rosenbaum…. in a fickle, fast-drying medium, this presents an additional challenge, but this technique represents so much about Jennie, carving what you want from what you have and working diligently until the end result is achieved…. “I could have given up when it all came crashing down, I could have given into the pain and resigned myself to depression, but instead I chose to look on this as an opportunity to pursue my love of art and try to forge a successful career from the ashes of my former life.”

New Nude: Depth

for a little while now I’ve had these underwater images in my brain and have wanted to play with this same technique but using translucent impasto medium instead of gesso…. the challenge was that I was unsure on drying how opaque it would remain so the question was whether I added not enough or too much white to the mix…. the medium was delightful to work with, slower drying and with an excellent viscosity -I loved the way my knife glided across the canvas.

New Nude: Relaxed

Relaxed – 18 x 30 Mixed Media on Canvas by Jennie Rosenbaum I’m using a new impasto surface instead of gesso and it’s really making a difference, sharper lines and I think it has a greater permanence as well…. I am going to be trying an acrylic impasto medium as well to play with translucency and so on. I’m really enjoying having the time and reason to dedicate to these white pieces…. This piece is a little different to my other white pieces but I think I am starting to get a feel for gravity, and for the new knife I am using after my old favorite met an unfortunate and untimely death..

New Nude: Lunge

Lunge – 30×40 Mixed Media on Canvas by Jennie Rosenbaum I admit to some trepidation starting out building up more works for this show, my last attempt at this technique was disastrous to say the least and I’ve had a little bit of a block since then…. sometimes you just have to tell the worries to shut up, put on some awesome music (oh yes, it was RENT again, it never fails to get me going!)… Apologies again for the bad photograph, I will take it again in the next few days in a few different locations to try to make the most of this appalling melbourne light.

Blarney Nudes

Spencer Tunick has done a lot for nude art, in the last eight years, his attitudes and installations help to reinforce the idea that nudity isn’t inherently sexual but natural and even fun, a unifying concept that links us all at the most basic level…. Tunick’s work has been criticized in the past and there have been court orders to try to prevent his installations from taking place, but the very public nature of his work is one of the things that makes it so compelling and the final results so interesting. the installation is not just about the photographs, although that is what most people see, it’s also about people braving the elements, public scrutiny and an artist’s whims clad in nothing but their skin.

Drawing Day

Drawing day 2008 has been and gone, I thoroughly enjoyed myself but didn’t create as many pieces as I hoped!… by the end of it I was really beginning to get a handle on the media and having lots of fun doing different things…. all seven pics I created can be seen here my photographs are still terrible, the light is getting pretty bad now that it’s winter again.

Upcoming Solo Show – Purity

The gallery has wonderful natural light and a really interesting layout that I think will be perfect for my white Impasto works…. this location (apart from being one I’ve always wanted to show in) is just down the road from where Liam and I had our accident. so it makes sense that my first solo should be so close to where it all began, and with my most hopeful and uplifting works.

Bill Henson’s Nudes are officially not Porn

One of the Controversial works by Bill Henson Photograph from the Age A spokeswoman for Australia’s Classification Board, speaking on condition of anonymity under board policy, said six photos had been referred to them…. as this notion has now been rather spectacularly thrown out, I doubt there is a legal leg to stand on. The newspapers are already reporting it as a victory and that the cases will be shut down…. more than that, it has raised some ugly feelings towards art in general and nudes specifically, it has seen galleries taking works off their walls for fear of persecution and to people being afraid to express their opinions.

New Nude – Shade

the light is interesting and I’d like to play with the pose some more but there were elements that were a real struggle, especially on such a small surface that are probably marring my observation of this painting. usually when I’m a little too close to a piece, if I work at it rather than getting into a zen state, I find it hard to separate out the work from the finished product. and that isn’t to say that I don’t eventually fall in love with the pieces that took effort or that the zen pieces are better in some way, I just find it harder to distance myself from the pieces my mind was actually present for.

From the mouths of Babes – Bill Henson from the Children’s perspective

Another of the Nude Teen Pictures under debate by Bill Henson .A local paper, from Bill Henson’s old stomping ground Northcote, took a different tack in this case by interviewing local children and seeking their opinions on the controversy…. I remember those days all too clearly and I think that it’s important that no matter whether you agree with the works or not, whether you accept the models choices to pose, take a moment to appreciate the bravery it took and the strength they must need to stand tall in the face of this controversy…. And while the students had concerns about the impact of the work and the ability of young people to give consent, they also defended the right to freedom of expression in art. “I think you should look at art for being art and stop focusing on the negatives,” Mutinta said.