Ben Apfelbaum

VALERIE MARSHALL STRONG OLSEN : A RARE SENSIBILITY

As is often the case a great male artist will often overshadow the talents of his wife or partner.

Indeed, John Olsen is still pouring out works well into his nineties. In an ABC’s  ‘Australian Story’ Olsen lamented the fact that his art required a vanity that had no consideration for other people or indeed his own family’s feelings. 

Cementing the fact of her non recognition was the fact that although his wife’s works were well recognised by her contemporaries she refused to sell her work.

To redress this imbalance Valerie’s children, Louise and Tim Olsen, are staging an exhibition of their mother’s work at the Rayner Hoff Project Space formerly known as the National  Art School in Darlinghurst, her alma mater. 

Alas Valerie is no longer alive  to see this exhibition honouring her work.

The Valerie Marshall Strong Olsen exhibition will run from November 6 to November 27, 2021 at the  Rayner Hoff Project Space, Darlinghurst.

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.