Henry Bateman

2004 Altered States, The Old Bakery on Eighth Gallery, Perth, Western Australia
2002 Perth Streets for Florence Walls, Impressions Gallery, Perth, Western Australia
1985 Hung Up on a Wall, Launching Pad Gallery, Perth, Western Australia
1984 Eleven in Eight, Octagon Theatre, Perth, Western Australia

2005 Corporate Logo, Graduate Dramatic Society, Perth, Western Australia
Stage Design “And a Nightingale Sang” Graduate Dramatic Society, Perth, Western Australia
Invitation “Suspend” Old Bakery on Eighth Gallery, Western Australia
2004 Invitation “A Touch of Glass 2004” Old Bakery on Eighth Gallery,Western Australia
Back Cloth “Blood Brothers” Graduate Dramatic Society, Perth, Western Australia
Invitation “Teapots 2004” Old Bakery on Eighth Gallery, Western Australia
2000 Carved painting Centrelink Call Centre, Rivervale, Western Australia
1993 Stage Design “What’s Up Pussycat” Dymesbury Lodge, Albany, Western Australia
Stage Design “Butterflies Are Free” Dymesbury Lodge, Albany Western Australia
1991 Stage design “Gulliver Goes South” Albany Town Theatre, Albany, Western Australia
1990 Lighting Design “Sheik Rattle‘n Roll” Albany Town Theatre, Albany, Western Australia
1990 Stage Design “Jack & the Circus” Albany Town Theatre, Albany Western Australia
1989 Lighting Design “Unmasked” Coco Youth Theatre, Albany, Western Australia
1985 Mural, Basement Wine Bar, Perth, Western Australia
1984 Stage Design “The Hostage” Irish Players Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Lighting Design “Noye’s Fludde” York Winter Festival, York, Western Australia
Lighting design “Le Minotaure” Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Lighting Design “L’ Apollon De Bellac” Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
1983 Stage Design “Son of Man” Plays Plus Players Octagon Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
1982 Lighting Design “The Gondoliers” His Majesties Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Stage Design “Dance of Death” Baracca II Pit Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Stage Design “Canterbury Tales” UDS, Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Stage Design “The Plough and the Stars” Irish Players, Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Stage Design “The Glass Menagerie” The Actors Company, Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
1981 Stage Design “The Glass Menagerie” The Actors Company, Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Stage Design “Wizard of Oz” UDS Dolphin Theatre, Perth, WA
Stage Design “Butterflies are Free” The Actors Company, St George’s Hall, Perth, Western Australia
Lighting Design “Ring Round the Moon”, St George’s Hall, Perth, Western Australia
1979 Lighting Design “Mothers & Fathers” Twelfth Night Theatre Company, Brisbane Queensland
1978 Stage Design “Summer Dances” WA Ballet Company, Octagon Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Lighting Design “Bokhara” WA Ballet Company, Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Lighting Design “Tancredi and Clorinda” WA Ballet Company, Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
Lighting Design “Don Juan” WA Ballet Company Dolphin Theatre, Perth, Western Australia
1977 Lighting Design “Set Point, Love Match” WA Ballet Company, Canberra Theatre, Canberra, ACT

ALTERED STATES
Digital Art by HENRY BATEMAN
21st November - 24th December 2004 @ THE OLD BAKERY ON EIGHTH GALLERY
Reviewed by Judith McGrath

In the late 19th century, J.M.W. Turner believed that photography would be the death of 'Art'. In the mid 20th century David Hockney considered photography an unacceptable form of image making. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, photography is finely gaining credibility as a fine art form. Meanwhile, as the debate about art vs photography continues, Henry Bateman ignores the rhetoric and goes about doing what he does best; turning simple subjects into interesting images by digitally manipulating his photographs.

Good visual art, no matter the medium, is about seeing and converting what we see into images that stimulate the eye and the mind. The images in this exhibition do just that. Bateman employs three themes, floral subjects, urban scenes, and portraits, each having it's own appeal. In the first grouping, trees and flowers appear to have been pollinated by electric bees as neon floribunda vibrates beautifully within the frame. As much as we admire the flutter of coloured leaves and branches, it's the portrait-like treatment of the Frangipani flower that demonstrates the 'wow' factor to the max.

Views of building sites around this town and the hustle and bustle of distant cities provide a new kind of visual impact after having gone through Bateman's camera and computer. Line and colour are manipulated and enhanced to add interest and excitement to the everyday environment. The collection of individual images in Night & Day makes an interesting and pulsating composition that could be any metropolis anywhere. Meanwhile Jeepney and Street Vendors offer two different moods that can only be found in an Asian city.

Bateman's Female Study series is a collection of gentle portraits that delineate only the sitter's head and hands. However his selection of detail and use of colour gives the viewer sufficient clues to each sitter's personality. Then there is Moon Dance, a rhythmic collection of full-body stills that capture the moves of a young man (break?) dancing.

Bateman has a keen eye for collecting aspects of everyday life, and a keen sense of design for digitally manipulating his pictures. He creates visual images that engage the viewer, and that's what Art is all about.

PERTH STREETS FOR FLORENCE WALLS
Digitally Manipulated Photographs by HENRY BATEMAN
15th - 20th November, 2002 @ IMPRESSIONS GALLERY
Reviewed by Judith McGrath

We have all heard people say the internet will change the way we live. It effectively releases us from the tyranny of distance to allow opportunities never before considered. For visual artists, the world wide web provides a comfortable venue to exhibit 'samples' of their work to an international audience that often results in artists being contacted by admirers from around the globe. Bateman knows the value of the net, has used it to display his imagery and has scored an invitation to exhibit his work at the Florence Biennale in 2003. This exhibition is a sample of what may go to Italy.

Bateman photographs people and places around Perth and Fremantle then reduces his subjects to colourful neon line drawings on black ground. By paring each picture back to a different degree of information, the viewer can't take the image for granted. Some 'facts' are removed so we must interpret the work while standing there with one foot in reality the other in imagination.

But these images are more then just the clever manipulation of computer software as they reveal the artist's keen eye for subject selection and pictorial composition. For example in the busy Bargain Hunters Bateman divides the picture surface into three distinct areas while maintaining a cohesive overall image. And in Chair & Mirror all extraneous information is deleted to offer an excellent focal point that tells the truth about how we view life in a hair salon.

What is most intriguing is how the mood of the subject is carried through the electronic process without loss of impact. So we find the sepia tones of Old Man giving warmth to the subject and the horizontal lines of Heading Home relieving some of the stress of rush hour with the promise of peace ahead. Then there is Steel Guitar where the background is bare, the musician is just a glowing contour line while the decorative instrument is fully rendered. This work is all about the music.

Bateman has a way to go yet before he hangs his pictures of Perth streets on Florentine walls but his journey would never have commenced without his photographic artistry, and his web site ()

Henry Bateman has been creating art for most of his life. Having no great interest in sport and being somewhat of a loner during his formative years, he spent a considerable amount of his time painting and drawing. He did this to such an extent that art was only subject in which he excelled at school.
With a dubious academic record to his credit, he followed his parent's advice and completed a 5 year apprenticeship as an electronics technician. A few months after its completion, he joined Strand Electric, one of Australia's major theatrical supply companies. Six months later he bid them a fond farewell, relocated to the other side of the country and commenced work as the Assistant Technical Manager for the Perth Entertainment Centre.
Here his artistic skills were encouraged and he started learning the intricacies of stage lighting. Rubbing shoulders with both international and national lighting designers, his skills quickly developed and he soon found himself creating light shows for the acts that graced the boards of this 8000 seat touring venue.
This was followed by a 2 year stint as Technical Director for the Western Australian Ballet Company. As well as lighting the majority of the company's productions, he started to design and construct the stage settings for some of their ballets.
Following his heart, he again traversed the country relocating in Queensland. He kept body and soul together with itinerant theatrical work and whilst resting between engagements, his passion for drawing and painting resurfaced. A move south to NSW saw his occupation with painting increase and his theatrical pursuits became a part time quest for a livelihood.
After 18 months in the premier state it was off across the continent again with his soon to be wife in tow. The painting bug was now firmly entrenched and he enrolled at The Claremont School of Art. He completed the first year which at the end of he held his first one man exhibition at the Octagon Theatre on the campus of the University of WA. During that year, he also designed the sets and the lighting for the Plays Plus Players production of Dennis Potters', Son of Man, to universal critical acclaim
Still an indifferent student instead of returning to art school for his second year, he set up his own studio and commenced to paint full time. Following the pattern set by his time in NSW, he kept body and soul together for himself and his young family with itinerate theatrical work. His second one man exhibition entitled "Hung up on a Wall" created some controversy with adjacent business owners and the owners of the building in which gallery was housed. The poster advertising the exhibition, an abstracted nude self portrait, was the cause for concern.
The arrival of his third child impressed upon Bateman that neither his art nor itinerate theatrical work would produce sufficient income to feed, clothe and educate his small tribe. This time he head south to the WA town of Albany where he took over the contract for the management of their Town Hall Theatre.
He kept his artistic side fed with the creation of an advertising company, Manad Management & Promotion. It was very much a hands on operation for Bateman and apart from creating posters and print advertising, he turned his talent to producing television commercials. During the last few years of the 10 he spent there, he was among the top 5 of advertisers buying air time with the local television station.
The educational needs of the family dictated a return to the big smoke of Perth. He found the next 5 years a challenging time and although polishing his writing skills with free lance work, his art took a back seat. The permanent estrangement from his partner of 20 years and a fight with the bottle did little to remedy the situation.
At the turn of the century, Bateman convinced Centrelink, the Australian Government's social security agency, he was the man to produce a carved mural for their Perth call centre. During this project, he discovered digital photography. The works you see on this web site, at his exhibitions, of which he has had 2, on his blogs and in his book are the result of his new found engagement with his art that this chance encounter enabled.
The authoring of a book was new learning curve for Bateman and with his new partner at his side, he has another in the works and the ideas for a couple more rattling around in the back of his brain. Whilst at the same time he continues to explore and refine the art that his computer allows him to produce.

Living is to participate in a work of art. During our waking moments all that we do from breaking bread to earning that daily crust is infused with all the elements that go into making a work of art. Except we are too damn busy to notice. The street photographer captures the essence of that art and when that essence, the shape, the line, the form and the colour replace the activity of the snap shot then the art emerges. The street art of our three score and ten.

2003 3 Boys Legacy Art Expo (Featured Artist), Cottesloe, Western Australia
2002 City of Perth Photographic Cultural Award (Finalist) Perth, Western Australia
Digital Image Gallery Los Angeles, USA
Ulrick Schubert Photographic Art Award (Finalist) Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
2001 Digital Image Gallery Los Angeles, USA
Guest Artist Museum of Computer Art, New York, USA
1995 I Know Nothing about Art but I Know What I Like Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, Western Australia
1986 Winter Exhibition Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, Western Australia
1985 Four Artists The Maltings, Perth, Western Australia
1984 Faber-Castell Art Prize (Finalist) Boronia Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia

All in all this is a fascinating book of images from The Streets of Manila that not only celebrates a city, but attests to the photographer's skill at capturing its personality.
Judith McGrath, 2006
There is a raw beauty that encompasses these photographs and a fly on the wall approach to the daily lives of ordinary people. Beautifully presented, vivid and stimulating. When I look through this book, I feel as if I am there, experiencing what these images represent.
Teresa Dow, 2006
The Streets of Manila - 66 colour photographs from the streets, the malls and the markets of the Philippines National Capital.