The Winter Bride

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery is delighted to present The Winter Bride, an exhibition of important historical works from the oeuvres of seven prominent contemporary artists: Destiny Deacon, Fiona Hall, Bill Henson, Isaac Julien, Linda Marrinon, Tracey Moffatt and Jenny Watson.

Illustrating key moments in time from the archives of seven key artists, The Winter Bride represents an opportunity to revisit artworks that have left an unwavering mark on the contemporary Australian art landscape. The exhibition at its core presents a dichotomy as stark as the seasons themselves, where moments of darkness and moments of light converge, where coarse notes of pain harmonise with delicate chords of beauty. To exist in this moment of twilight is to confront the very essence of the human experience. Just as winter casts its austere, icy embrace, so too does it nurture the promise of renewal. Just as the streets of New York City after dark elicit moments of dubious, gritty drama, so too do they uncover moments of sparkling, ephemeral glamour. The Winter Bride is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, encapsulating the intricate dance of duality that defines life itself, where pain and beauty inextricably entwine.

Highlights include Destiny Deacon’s tragicomic photographic odyssey Waiting for Goddess; photographic work from the 1970s by prominent Australian artist Fiona Hall; work from Bill Henson’s enigmatic 1987/88 photographic series capturing the neon-lit nightscapes of New York City; a collection of sumptuous silver gelatin photographic works by Isaac Julien from his series Looking for Langston, a lyrical exploration of the private world of the artists and writers who formed the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s; selected works from Tracey Moffatt’s renowned series Laudanum, a hallucinatory tale of sexual violence taking place in a colonial mansion filtered through what appears to be a drug-fuelled haze; a series of small etchings from 2003 by Linda Marrinon; and selected works by Jenny Watson from her presentation at the Venice Biennale in 1993.

– Tallulah Smith, 2023