Ponch Hawkes
Ponch Hawkes (born 1946) is an Australian photographer whose work explores intergenerational relationships, queer identity and LGBTQI+ rights, the female body, masculinity, and women at work, capturing key moments in Australia's cultural and social histories.[1][2][3][4][5]
Early life and education[edit]
Hawkes was born in Abbotsford, Victoria, in 1946 and educated at University High School. She is self-taught, having never formally studied photography.[6] Upon returning to Australia from the United States in the early 1970s, Hawkes, who was working as a journalist for the magazine The Digger, took up photography to enhance her journalistic work.[citation needed]
Work[edit]
Her work has been included in major Australian exhibitions such as Melbourne Now (2013) at the National Gallery of Victoria and Know My Name (2021/22) at the National Gallery of Australia. Hawke's work is represented in the collections of numerous significant institutions including the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, State Library of Victoria, City of Melbourne, Horsham Regional Gallery, Monash Gallery of Art, the Women's Art Register, and the Jewish Museum of Australia.[7][8] Hawkes has collaborated with the Pram factory and Circus Oz, and was the first administrator of the Women's Theatre Group in the 1970s.[9]
Hawkes' photographic work is broad in its scope, including the portrayal of artists, feminists, sportspeople, public figures and candid street-photographs. The photographs are often exhibited as a series or multiples, and the subjects in the work are often invited to actively participate in the process.[2] Through this method, Hawkes pursues a sustained interest in the way individuals use their bodies and the way individuals relate, through their bodies, to each other.[10] Hawke's first exhibited body of work, the 1976 photo essay Our Mums and Us, featured her female friends and their mothers, among them the writer Helen Garner.[11] More recent projects have explored the ageing female body such as in the monumental work 500 strong (2021),[12][13][14] that reclaims bodies from shame, empowers the subjects portrayed, and normalises images of older women.[15][16] The under-representation of women in politics is explored in the humorous work Changing Faces: Reframing Women in Local Democracy (2020),[17] that depicts 171 local women wearing fake moustaches and beards to challenge gender stereotypes.[17] Hawkes' extensive career is considered an influential part of the Australian feminist art movement. [3][18]
Exhibitions[edit]
 | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (November 2015) |
Selected solo exhibitions[edit]
- 500 Strong, Geelong Art Gallery, Shepparton Art Museum, curated by Jane Scott, 2022[12]
- Changing Faces, Bayside City Council Chambers, Melbourne, 2020[17]
- Our Mums and Us and These Women have Just Run 26 Miles, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, Australia, 2013
- Eros, Philos and Agape, Melbourne Cricket Ground, 2012
- Basil Sellers Creative Arts Fellow, National Sports Museum, MCG, 2011–12
- More seeing is NOT Understanding, Monash Gallery of Art, Brisbane Powerhouse, Portland, Redlands Qld, Albury, 2009
- Seeing Is Not Understanding, Horsham Regional Gallery, 2009
- Trading Places, Heritage Hill Museum, Dandenong and Immigration Museum, Melbourne, 2006
- Risk, Monash Gallery of Art, 2005
- Sensation, Chrysalis Gallery, East Melbourne, 2005
- They're downstairs, North Melbourne Arts House, 2003
- Todah, Jewish Museum, St Kilda, Melbourne, 2001
- St Vincent’s at Home, Aikenhead Gallery, Melbourne 1999
- Relatively Speaking, The Family in Words and Pictures, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney, and Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, 1998
- Photoworks, Victoria University Gallery, Melbourne, 1997
- Circus Oz, Performing Arts Museum Collection, Westpac Gallery, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, 1997
- Best Mates, William Mora Gallery, Melbourne, 1990
- Generations, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1989
- Circus Oz in Performance, La Trobe University Gallery and Watters Gallery, Sydney, 1981
- Our Mums and Us, Brummels Gallery, Melbourne 1976
Selected group exhibitions[edit]
- Flesh After Fifty, Changing Images of Older Women in Art, Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne, Australia, 2021
- Photography Meets Feminism: Australian women photographers 1970s–80s, A Monash Gallery of Art travelling exhibition, 2014–2015
- Beyond Borders, MAP Group, Ballarat International Photo Biennale, 2015
- Melbourne Now National Gallery of Victoria, 2013–2014[6]
- KHEM, Strange Neighbour, Melbourne, Curated by Linsey Gosper, April 11 – May 3, 2014[19]
- Take A Bow, Ballarat Mechanics Institute, 2013
- Mining The Collection, Albury City Gallery, 2011
- Brummels, Monash Gallery of Art, 2011
- Mapping Ballarat, Ballarat Foto Biennale, 2011
- Basil Sellers Art prize, (finalist) Ian Potter Museum of Art, 2011
- Timelines, National Gallery of Victoria, 2011
- Mapping Ballarat, Ballarat International Foto Biennale, 2009
- Beyond Reasonable Drought, Old Parliament House, Canberra and touring, 2007
- Raised by Wolves, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 2006
- Julie Millowick Aquisitive Prize, Castlemaine Festival (winner), 2006
- Murray Cod: The Biggest Fish in the River, Swan Hill Gallery and 5 other venues, 2006
- Blake prize for Religious Art (finalist), 2006
- Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photographic Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery (finalist), 2006
- Olive Cotton Award for Photographic Portraiture, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah (finalist), 2006
- Making Hay at Shear Outback Center, Hay, NSW, and Span Galleries, Melbourne, 2006
- The Interior World: photographs and photographers from Glen Eira City Council's Collection, Glen Eira City Gallery, Caulfield South, Melbourne, 2004
- Documenting Australians, A pictorial history of Australian photography, Monash Gallery of Art, Wheelers Hill, 2002
- Images of Australian Men, Photographs from the Monash Gallery of Art collection, travelling exhibition, 2002
- Exhibit X – Group Photographic Exhibition, Lab X Gallery, St Kilda, 2002
- So You Wanna Be a Rock Star, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 2002
- Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives, Melbourne Museum, touring 10 venues, 2001
- Woman Photographers, Monash City Gallery, 2000
- Feminist Art, RMIT First Line Gallery Melbourne, 1999
- Three Melbourne Photographers, Ballarat Festival, Ballarat, 1997
- The Power to Move, Aspects of Australian Photography, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1996
- Six Photographers, Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney, 1995
- On the Edge, Australian Photographers of the Seventies, from the collection of the National Library Australia, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, 1994
- All in the family – Selected Australian Portraiture, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 1994
- Domain of the Other, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1992
- Defective Models – Australian Portraiture 19th and 20th Centuries, from regional, university and private collections, Monash University Gallery, 1990
- Portrait Photography, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1989
- The Thousand Mile Stare, Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, Melbourne, touring Art and Working Life, Roar Studios, Melbourne, 1988
- Shades of Light – Photography and Australia 1839 to 1988, Australian National Gallery, 1988
- Living in the Seventies, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1986
- Australian Photographers, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1984
- Photographic Work, Perc Tucker Gallery, Townsville The Critical Distance, Artspace Sydney, 1983
- Melbourne Theatre Photographers, Ministry for the Arts, Melbourne, 1982
- Eight Woman Photographers, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne and Developed Image, Adelaide, 1981
- Woman's Work, La Trobe University Gallery, Melbourne, 1981
- Self Portrait/Self Image, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne and touring, 1980
- 100 Artists, Panel Beaters Gallery, Melbourne, 1978
- New Conceptualists, Tokyo, 1977
- Sister’s Delight, Media Resource Centre Gallery, Adelaide, 1977
- Woman Photographers, Pram Factory, Melbourne, 1976
Publications[edit]
- Beyond Reasonable Drought, The Map Group of Photographers, Five Mile Press, 2009
- Trading Places, text by David Crofts, photos by Ponch Hawkes, City of Greater Dandenong,2006
- Art of Reconciliation, edited by Ponch Hawkes, City of Melbourne, 2002
- Australian Water Polo, A Celebration, by Shane Maloney and Ponch Hawkes, Australian Water Polo Inc. 1998
- Women of Substance, Sue Jackson and Gael Wallace with photographs by Ponch Hawkes, Allen and Unwin, 1998
- Unfolding: The Story of the Australian and New Zealand AIDS Quilt Projects, by Ponch Hawkes with text by Ainsley Yardley and Kim Langley, McPhee Gribble, 1994 ISBN 9780869143537
- Best Mates, A Study of Male Friendship, by Ponch Hawkes, McPhee Gribble and Penguin Books, 1990
- Generations: Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters, by Diane Bell with Ponch Hawkes, McPhee Gribble & Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1987
- Pay to Play, by Wendy Milson, Helen Thomas and Ponch Hawkes, Penguin,1976
References[edit]
- ^ "Landmark queer exhibition coming to NGV". ArtsHub Australia. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Hawkes, Ponch (1990). Best mates : a study. Melbourne: McPhee Gribble Publishers. ISBN 0-86914-173-2. OCLC 22306588.
- ^ "Ponch Hawkes: publications | AustralianPhotographers.org". www.australianphotographers.org. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Woolnough, Damien (10 August 1998). "Candid Camera". The Herald-Sun. p. 97.
- ^ Fenelon, Jeannette (1980). "The Women at Work Kit: a discussion with Judy Munro, Sylvie Shaw and Ponch Hawkes". Lip: 8–11.
- ^ a b "Ponch Hawkes". Melbourne Now. National Gallery of Victoria. 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Ponch Hawkes | NETS Victoria". netsvictoria.org.au. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ "Ponch Hawkes | AustralianPhotographers.org". www.australianphotographers.org. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Burchall, Greg (17 December 1997). "Snapper takes a digital spin". The Age.
- ^ "Ponch and Ida". www.mga.org.au. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Ponch Hawkes—500 Strong | Geelong Gallery". www.geelonggallery.org.au. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ O'Brien, Kerrie (7 March 2021). "Why these women over 50 happily got naked in front of a stranger". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ "'Reclaiming women's bodies from shame': a photographic illumination of ageing". The Guardian. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Delaney, Brigid (8 March 2021). "'Reclaiming Women's Bodies from Shame': a photographic illumination of ageing". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Moosad, Lila. "Narrating lives, creating images: Reflections from a photography event". Non | Traditional Research Outcomes. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ a b c "Changing Faces exhibition | Bayside City Council". www.bayside.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Burke, Janine (1990). Field of vision : a decade of change : women's art in the seventies. Ringwood, Vic., Australia: Viking. ISBN 0-670-83586-2. OCLC 22987043.
- ^ Gosper, Linsey (11 April 2014). "Strange Neighbor exhibition catalogue for KHEM" (PDF). Strange Neighbour. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
Further reading[edit]
- LOOK :Contemporary Photography since 1980, Anne Marsh, Macmillan, 2010
- The New McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Alan McCulloch, Susan McCulloch and Emily McCulloch Childs, Aus Art Editions, 2006
- Art in Australia, Christopher Allen, Thames & Hudson, 1997 ISBN 978-0500203019
- The Power to Move: Aspects of Australian Photography, Anne Kirker and Clare Williamson, Queensland Art Gallery, 1995
- Field of Vision – A Decade of Change: Women's Art in the 70s, Janine Burke, Viking,1990
- Twenty Contemporary Australian Photographers: from Hallmark Cards Australian Photographic Collection, Isobel Combie and Sandra Bryon, National Gallery of Victoria, 1990
- The Critical Distance – Work with Photography, Virginia Coventry, Hale and Iremonger, 1986
External links[edit]
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