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Details
- Date
- printed 2023 2005
- Media category
- Photograph
- Materials used
- inkjet print on paper
- Dimensions
- 63.0 x 88.0 cm sight; 68.8 x 93.7 cm frame
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased with funds provided by the Contemporary Collection Benefactors 2023
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 284.2023
- Copyright
- © Liam Benson
- Artist information
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Liam Benson
Works in the collection
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About
In the mid to late 2000s, Liam Benson processed the social disconnection he felt as a gay man living in Western Sydney by turning the camera on himself. He adopted masculine and feminine personas in staged photographs taken by family members and his friend and collaborator Naomi Oliver, intending to better understand gender stereotypes and sexual identity.
Benson also alluded to toxic traits of masculinity, such as homophobia and alcohol-fuelled violence, in his self-portraiture. For example, in 'VB sticker' he depicted his mouth sealed shut by a beer label, suggesting he was afraid or incapable of openly expressing his sexual orientation in social settings for fear of homophobic discrimination or abuse. 'Bleeding glitter', which portrayed Benson exhibiting visible signs of physical or emotional trauma with glitter-specked blood trickling down from his nostrils, addressed this threat directly.
By emulating the preened appearance and seductive poses of male models in 'VB sticker' and 'Bleeding glitter', Benson additionally commented on the exploitation of male sexuality in advertising, the media and the fashion industry.
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Bibliography
Referenced in 3 publications
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Daniel Mudie Cunnigham., Artist Profile, 'Liam Benson: tapestry reissued', Sydney, 2022, 50 (colour illus.).
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Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Bent western, 'Bent western', pg. 4-9, 2008, 8, 15 (colour illus.).
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Sarah Gurich, Richard Perram, Liam Benson, Barbara Dowse, Christine Dean and Steven Lindsay Ross, Liam Benson: Virtue without stain, Bathurst, 2022, 2, 3 (colour illus.), 9, 18, 58.
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