A GROUNDBREAKING new exhibition entitled 500 Strong by renowned Australian photographer, Ponch Hawkes, opened to much acclaim on Saturday, September 17 at the Shepparton Art Museum, in the Community Gallery.
A bold and playful work, this series of black and white photos celebrates the diversity and reality of the ageing female form, born out of Hawke’s desire to confront the conventions of female behaviour and representation in art and society.
In 2018, Hawkes embarked on a mission to photograph 500 Victorian women over the age of 50, in the nude and following a call out 432 women volunteered to be photographed, to achieve Hawke’s vision.
After having been previously displayed at Geelong Gallery as a part of the Flesh after Fifty exhibition, 500 Strong celebrates and recognises the contribution made to the project by local women who participated as subjects with the individual choice of showing their face or maintaining their anonymity by using a personalised face covering.
Artist Ponch Hawkes says of the exhibition:
“It’s an honour and a pleasure to be bringing 500 Strong to the marvellous new Shepparton Art Museum. It will of course include photos of dozens of brave Shepparton women, who joined hundreds more ripping their clothes off and posing naked in the name of art and feminism.”
500 Strong will be on display until November 27, 2022. The exhibition and all others at SAM are free and open to the public. More details can be found on the SAM website:
https://sheppartmuseum.com.au/whats-on/upcoming /sam-presents-ponch-hawkes-500-strong/
