EXHIBITION: WOODSTOCK

There’s been a lot of hoopla about reaching the 40-year milepost of the moon landing. Small step, giant leap, yadda yadda. But there’s another cultural harbinger ringing in its ruby anniversary this year. Woodstock, baby, in all its mud-soused, Star Spangled Banner-burning, illicit drug-drizzled glory. Held in Bethel, New York, on Aug 15 1969, it attracted over 300,000 long-haired revolutionaries and was ranked in Rolling Stone‘s 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll. But what now looms large in cultural memory was made up of tiny moments in time, experienced by lovers, dreamers … and photographers like Burk Uzzle, Henry Diltz, Elliott Landy, and Amalie Rothschild. Offering a snapshot of an era, Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music is thick with images billowing purple haze, groovy threads, and an almost palpable hope that the world is about to take a giant leap into a better future.

Until Aug 25, Blender Gallery, 16 Elizabeth Street Paddington, 9380 7080 or blender.com.au