Ben Apfelbaum

KATRIN LONGHURST’S EXHIBITION ‘INDOCTRINATED’ @ NANDA/HOBBS GALLERY

Artist Katrin Longhurst in front of one of her portraits.

Katrin Longhurst’s latest exhibition INDOCTRINATED opened on the 13th May at the Nanda/Hobbs Gallery with many red dots accompanying the paintings on show.

When one walks into the Gallery one feels like one is in an alternate universe – East Germany after the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961.

Katrin Longhurst actually lived in that universe till she was 15 years old. 

She stated that she deliberately set out to depict her paintings in a social realism style favoured by the Nazis and the Russians, East Germany’s occupiers. 

To view such beautifully realised works is, at first, relaxing. There are no obscure squiggles or abstract shadows to interpret.

However, the more one views the many portraits, the more one realises that there is a sardonic, sinister and harsh criticism of the East German communist regime. 

Apart from gentle paintings related to her childhood this is a savagely sumptuous exhibition that should not be missed.

The exhibition closes on the 22nd May so hurry to the Nanda/Hobbs Gallery in Chippendale to see this  thought provoking and skilfully rendered exhibition. The Gallery is located at 12-14 Meagher Street, Chippendale.

http://www.nandahobbs.com

Photography by Ben Apfelbaum

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.