Arty: Sleeping Beauty

I co-edited Arty 45 — an issue of the independent zine Arty devoted to Sleeping Beauty (2011), the first and only film by Australian director Julia Leigh.

​

The film, admired for its cool, restrained aesthetic but often dismissed at the time of release, raised complex questions around the male gaze, the ‘blank’ female figure, and eroticised passivity. Through feminist and cultural readings, our contributors — including Abigail Fine, Claire Marie Healey and Georgina K. Evans — revisited the film’s critical reception and social afterlife.

​

Alongside new writing, we included an interview with the film’s production designer, original production notes by Julia Leigh, and a curated portfolio of ‘sleeping woman’ artworks by Julie Curtiss, Ilona Szalay, Kirsty Buchanan and others. 

 

The issue launched at a Zodiac Film Club screening of Sleeping Beauty at The Castle Cinema.