The photographs of Robert Besanko are instilled with an otherworldly, ethereal quality that is given rigour by his insistence upon pure, and simplified form. His subjects are personal, often overtly sensual, private moments, isolated, and bathed in a sepia glow. Besanko has the surprising quality of the eccentric, his vision is beauty bordering on the surreal, a dreamlike quality under-pinned by a modernist pre-occupation with form. Besanko has worked extensively using the now obsolete Kodalith paper, which imparts a characteristic textural saturation of sepia and cream tones to his photographs.
Most recently, Besanko has gone back to revisit his earlier iconic works of the 1970’s and 1980’s, experimenting with the effects of scale afforded by contemporary large-format digitisation . In his current body of work,the effects of much expanded scale upon the soft Kodalith textures, and bold forms of the original photos is explored.
Robert Besanko has exhibited widely, and he has been acknowledged internationally since the 1970’s.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012-13 Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
2001 Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo
1999 Michael Hoppen Photography, London
1997 In Focus Gallery, Burkhard Arnold, Cologne
1993 Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo
1988 King Street Gallery, Sydney & Bendigo C.A.E, Victoria
1987-8 Touring Exhibition: Ararat, Mildura, Horsham, Shepparton, Mornington, Castlemaine
1984 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
1983 The Developed Image, Adelaide
1981 Centre George Pompidou, Paris
1981 Ufficcio Dell’Arte, Paris
1979 Canon Gallery, Amsterdam
1978 Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
1978 Photographers Gallery, Melbourne
SELECTED INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS
Phillip Morris Collection
Centre George Pompidou, Paris
Biblioteque Nationale de France, Paris
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Municipal Van Reekummuseum of Modern Art, Apeldoorn
Bert Hartkamp Collection, Amsterdam
Maison Europeanne de la Photographie, Paris
Houston Museum of Fine Arts
Los Angeles, County Museum of Art
SELECTED AUSTRALIAN COLLECTIONS
Australian National Gallery, Canberra
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The University Art Museum, University of Queensland
