‘Wonderful women’ on show

BY JESSICA GRIMBLE

Anew exhibition in Horsham celebrates the beauty, strength and diversity of women’s bodies.

The exhibition at Horsham Regional Art Gallery, titled ‘500 Strong’, seeks to challenge ‘what real women look like’; and to challenge the conventions of women’s behaviour and representation in art and society.

Black-and-white images of 465 naked women, aged over 50, celebrate health, body image and wellbeing.

Renowned Australian photographer Ponch Hawkes embarked on an ‘epic’ project in 2018 to photograph Victorian women over the age of 50. Participants could show their faces, or consider anonymity with a personalised face covering.

Photo shoots at Hawkes’ studio in Melbourne and at Shepparton Art Museum, Geelong Gallery and Horsham Regional Art Gallery followed, attracting 465 volunteers.

About 50 of them live in the Wimmera. Their photoshoot was in April and June last year.

A Wimmera participant, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the photoshoot was a chance for acceptance, celebration and fun.

“I never used to have an issue with my body, but over the past few years, I have watched it change — because of menopause, I think,” she said.

“One day, I found myself standing in front of the mirror wondering who on earth that person was.

“My husband tells me I’m beautiful in his eyes, but in my own eyes, I’m not so sure.

“So when I heard about 500 Strong, I seized the opportunity to reclaim my own body and accept myself for who I am — body change and all.

“To my delight, I was able to recruit some friends to come to the shoot with me and made a day of it – a day of fun, amazing conversations and, most of all, a celebration of ourselves as the wonderful women we truly are.”

The exhibition officially opens on Sunday, February 5 at 3pm.

Hawkes will be in attendance to discuss the ideas that encouraged the work and reflect on the ‘erasure of ageing women from visual culture’ and ‘the negative stereotypes’ that surround them.

The gallery will also host a private gathering for photoshoot participants before the exhibition closes on March 19.

The gallery’s director Lauren Simpson said the exhibition had spurred important conversations. “We’ve had a lot of people come through since the exhibition opened in December. Often they thank us for having something like this in the gallery — to see someone who looks like them, or like someone they know,” she said.

“People might normally say, you shouldn’t be doing that, you shouldn’t be showing that.

“The more often we put these things out there, the more it will become normal; it won’t be questioned.

“Everybody is different – not every- one is the same – and there’s nothing to be ashamed of.

“Why is there an age limit on what people can show?

“Be proud of what you’ve been given and flaunt it.”

‘500 Strong’ premiered in the 2021 exhibition, ‘Flesh after fifty: Changing images of older women in art’ with former Horsham gallery director Jane Scott its curator.

The gallery, in Wilson Street, is open every day from 10am to 4pm.