The Baroque in Bill Henson's photographs

By Jacinta Giles

'Worlds within Worlds' March 2026

Curator's insight

The two Bill Henson photographs in this exhibition ['Worlds within Worlds', 2026] are unified by using the drama of highlights against darkness – characteristic of chiaroscuro in Baroque painting.
Meaning ‘light-dark’ in Italian, it was a technique used by Baroque artists to suggest divine light and to convey psychological complexity.
By calling his works ‘Untitled’, the artist creates deliberate ambiguity, which conflicts with the expectation that a photograph represents a particular moment and place.
With the photographs seeming almost otherworldly, Henson is more interested in what the image may represent to the viewer’s imagination than the specifics of the subject.

Written and spoken by Jacinta Giles (Assistant Curator, International Art), March 2026

This photograph captures a view of a salon-style installation of photographs, with very small works hung at the far edges and the largest works hung in the middle. Multiple artists are represented; however, each photograph included has dramatic, Baroque elements in its composition.

Works by Gavin Hipkins, Anne Noble, Bill Henson, Justine Cooper, Imogen Cunningham, Anne Ferran and Laurence Aberhart installed for ‘Worlds within Worlds’, QAG, March 2026 / © The artists / Photograph: J Ruckli, QAGOMA