Bill Henson is one of Australia's leading contemporary artists. His powerful and edgy photographs approach both the painterly and the cinematic, bringing together the formal and classical with the gritty, casual dramas of the everyday. Henson defines and redefines his subjects with a rigour that is inseparable from his technical command. He is a master of the use of light and dark in the tradition of the great European painters. Beautiful, confronting and unforgettable, his images capture a universal essence and enliven our own sense of being.

This landmark exhibition comprising more than 300 works spanning the 3 decades of Bill Henson's career, is the first major survey of his work. The exhibition is the major visual arts event in the 2005 Sydney Festival, and will be on view at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 8 January to 3 April, before touring to the National Gallery of Victoria from 23 April to 10 July 2005.

"Bill Henson’s images are carefully choreographed moments of suspenseful drama, veritable symphonies of decadence and beauty, of squalor and opulence, of mysterious darkness and ominous light, of quiet obsession and subversive ecstasy," said Edmund Capon, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.