PROJECT 4: JUSTENE WILLIAMS: Victory over the Sun

Media Kit

Justene Williams, Strong Woman from Victory over the Sun (performance documentation), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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I say it looks Baroque Grunge. I came from the 90s grunge scene that was big in Sydney, and I don’t think I’ll ever lose its influence: that free-play messiness, that Arte Povera aesthetic.’

JUSTENE WILLIAMS

Justene Williams’ performance Victory over the Sun reimagines the Futurist opera that caused a riot in the streets of Saint Petersburg in 1913.

Staged in collaboration with the Sydney Chamber Opera, Justene Williams' adaptation of Victory over the Sun recasts the opera with diverse bodies and reinterprets the costume designs originally made by the Ukrainian-born artist Kazimir Malevich. The performance depicts the revolutionary overthrow of the sun, with characters trapping it in a black box to stop time and reimagine civilisation.

Meanjin/Brisbane-based artist Williams has been making and exhibiting work since the 1990s. Her work utilises video, photography, sculpture and performance, often fused into high-energy environments. Victory over the Sun with Justene Williams is a Know My Name project.

Curator: Elspeth Pitt, Senior Curator, Australian Art

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  • A mosaic photograph of smaller photographs of figures in bright costumes

    Justene Williams, Selected costumes from Victory over the Sun, 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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  • Justene Williams, Strong Woman from Victory over the Sun (performance documentation), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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  • Justene Williams, Victory over the Sun (The New Human), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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  • A split image of a performer with a yellow box costume

    Justene Williams, Victory over the Sun (The Coward), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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  • A performer in a black suit with a colourful shape in the centre

    Justene Williams, Victory over the Sun (The Leader), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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  • Justene Williams, Victory over the Sun (The Traveller), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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  • Justene Williams, Victory over the Sun (The Bully), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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  • Justene Williams, Victory over the Sun (The Enemy), 2016, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Justene Williams. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Gadigal Nura/Sydney

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