Defiance as gallery tests boundaries

AUSTRALIA'S artistic community defiantly voiced its support for photographer Bill Henson yesterday as another senior government minister criticised his work and police continued their child pornography investigation.

In an act of solidarity with the embattled artist, leading dealer Denis Savill hung a Bill Henson image of two nude young people in the window of his Sydney gallery.

"This will give them something to grizzle about," Mr Savill said as he hung one of the works from Henson's 1992-1993 Untitled series.

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".

"I'm saying, 'I'm supporting Bill', I don't see any problem with this work," Mr Savill said. "I think his images can be very thought-provoking, and it certainly raises your awareness about children in a modern society, but it's not offensive."

Police raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, in inner-city Sydney, on Friday after a complaint from a member of the public, seizing 20 of Henson's photographs, some of which include naked images of a girl and boy aged 13 and 12.

They have said they will seek prosecution under state and commonwealth laws, alleging the photographs depicted "a child under the age of 16 years of age in a sexual context". However, police have not said whether they will prosecute Henson or gallery owner Roslyn Oxley.

Comments last Friday by Kevin Rudd, who described the images as "absolutely revolting", have thrown the issue into the political arena.

Arts Minister Peter Garrett, a longtime advocate of artists' freedom of expression, told The Australian he did not wish to comment on a case currently under police investigation, "except to say that while artists have a right to challenge and confront audiences, they also have a responsibility to operate within the law."

He said "the fact that Bill Henson's work features in a number of the nation's galleries and private collections is an acknowledgement of his success as an artist".

The controversy has raised questions about the fate of other Henson photographs which hang in galleries across the country and abroad.

The Art Gallery of NSW, which has 48 Henson works and two on display, said it had no intention of removing the images, which depict nudes of indeterminate age.

An AGNSW spokeswoman said the works, which attracted a steady audience yesterday, would not be removed in the near future.

"We totally respect Bill Henson's work. We've had no complaints," she said.

Police said they had no plans to expand their investigation.

"We don't have any information to say any other art gallery is being investigated," a spokeswoman said.

Families Minister Jenny Macklin said society needed to address the issue of children and media.

"I don't agree with the photographs, but I also don't agree with the way in which children are being bombarded in many other places, whether it's billboards, whether it's on children's television," she told the Nine Network's Sunday program.

"One of the things we all have to do ... is figure out where the line in the sand is, and I think this sexualisation of children is wrong."

News of the raid has made headlines around the world, reaching readers in the US, Canada, Britain and the United Arab Emirates. Sites posting articles on the controversy from newswires yesterday included The Washington Post, The Independent in London and The Gulf Times in the United Arab Emirates.

Tony Oxley, husband of gallery owner Robyn, said threats were left on an answering machine at the gallery as they prepared to reopen the exhibition without the controversial works.

"There are some crackpots out there," Mr Oxley said. "They have left threats on the phone. We have had threats to burn the building down. It is very worrying."

Child Protection Advocate Hetty Johnston, who on Thursday wrote to the NSW Police and asked them to prosecute the gallery and Henson, called for calm yesterday. "Some people are very passionate about it to the extreme, which is unfortunate," she told Macquarie Radio.

"But if we can just stay focused on the issue, and the issue is depictions of 12-year-old children within a sexual context, there's no question about that."

Additional reporting: James Madden, Angus Hohenboken