News location:

Canberra Today 25°/29° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Quiet launch for new photo show at Portrait Gallery

LAUNCHED by novelist Christos Tsiolkas this morning very quietly, possibly  because of the sensitive subject-matter, the  National Portrait Gallery’s new show,  “Tough and Tender”, presents ‘raw and intimate’ photography from American and Australian artists from the 1960s to now.

 'Untitled', 1971 by Larry Clark. National Gallery of Australia.
‘Untitled’, 1971 by Larry Clark. National Gallery of Australia.

Featuring work by international artists like Robert Mapplethorpe, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Chris Burden, and Collier Schorr, this exhibition explores “youth, the coming of age, intimacy and emotional vulnerability” alongside contemporary Australian artists Rozalind Drummond and Warwick Baker, who have made portraits specifically for the NPG show

Providing intimate depictions of people, places and life-events in semi-private worlds, the exhibition also looks at people who live on the margins of society.

The exhibition curator and senior curator at the NPG Dr Christopher Chapman says, “In Larry Clark’s photos, boy hustlers act tough but we know they really crave protection and love. In Collier Schorr’s photos young German soldiers surrender to her camera. Robert Mapplethorpe’s photos thrill to the sensation of smooth skin. When you reveal your deepest feelings, there’s always the risk of a broken heart.”

Chapman has maintained a long-term scholarly investigation of masculinity in visual and wrote on the topic in his doctoral thesis, which examined adolescent masculinity and themes of self-sacrifice in contemporary photography and film.

These landmark photographs, some of which have never been displayed in Australia before, explore the complexities of masculinity and gender within an intimate and raw framework composed with sensitivity and candour.

“Tough and Tender,” National Portrait Gallery, open to the public from Friday, July 15 to Sunday October 16.

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Helen Musa

Helen Musa

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Music

Cunio takes top job at NZ School of Music

Immediate past head of the ANU School of Music, Kim Cunio, is to become head of school at Te Kōki, the NZ School of Music, part of the Victoria University of Wellington, reports HELEN MUSA.

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews