Justin Lees

Unnecessary At Best

42 × 29 cm

Mixed media on paper

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About the work

a gestural work on paper made with house paint, acrylic, oil paint and crayon. The work is about holding onto something that is difficult to put into words. I’m interested in the tension between what we see on the surface and what might be happening underneath. The painting was built through layers of colour, marks and movement, with parts being covered, rubbed back and painted over. What remains is a record of the process as much as the original idea.

About the artist

Justin Lees Born 1981. Lives and works in Mulubinba / Newcastle, Australia. Justin Lees is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, photography, and design. With a bold abstract expressionist style characterised by visceral brushwork, vivid colour palettes, and textured layers, Lees’ work evokes a raw emotional language that invites deep reflection on memory, nature, and the human condition. Justin Lees Born 1981. Lives and works in Mulubinba / Newcastle, Australia. Justin Lees is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, photography, and design. With a bold abstract expressionist style characterised by visceral brushwork, vivid colour palettes, and textured layers, Lees’ work evokes a raw emotional language that invites deep reflection on memory, nature, and the human condition. A self-taught artist, Lees has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally, with over ten solo exhibitions since 2004. His work draws on personal experience, intuition, and introspection—creating pieces that move between chaos and harmony, often anchored by landscape or internal states. Whether working on large-scale canvases or intimate studies, Lees’ approach is immersive, gestural, and deeply felt. After a period of part-time practice between 2008 and 2014, Lees returned to full-time artmaking with renewed energy in 2019, when he was appointed Artist in Residence at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI). This unique collaboration between science and art became a catalyst for further multidisciplinary experimentation and led to a series of sold-out solo exhibitions. In 2023, he presented I Saw Your Ghost Tonight at Wester Gallery—a major solo exhibition accompanied by a self-published book and a short documentary, which he co-produced and scored. The project reflected his ability to synthesise multiple creative forms into a singular, emotive narrative. Lees has undertaken a number of significant public and private commissions, including large-scale works and curated interior projects. His work is held in private collections across Australia, New Zealand, England, and Europe. In 2024, he was awarded the David Strachan Memorial Prize for Contemporary and Non-Traditional Practice, and was a finalist in both the Gosford Art Prize and the LEDA Gallery Prize, as well as a semi-finalist in the Newcastle Club Foundation Art Prize. In 2024, Lees undertook an international residency in France, where he began developing a new body of work exploring the interplay between visual art and sound. The residency marked a pivotal moment in expanding his practice into multi-sensory installation and laid the foundation for his next major solo project. With a growing national and international profile, Justin Lees continues to explore new territory—challenging traditional forms while remaining deeply connected to emotion, landscape, and memory. His works offer a poetic and powerful encounter for viewers and a compelling voice for contemporary Australian art.

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