Justin Lees
Artist Bio
Justin Lees is a visual artist, graphic designer, photographer, and owner of Wester Gallery based in Newcastle, Australia.
Justin has been drawing for as long as he can remember. After earning his tertiary qualifications in Graphic Design and Photography (2009) Justin set out on new endeavours finally coming full circle and returning to his roots and rekindling his love of painting, photography, and design into a full-fledged professional career as an abstract, expressionist painter. Justin’s early work was big, bright, and vivid. It attracted interest due to its gestural motion and layers, reminiscent of abstract expressionism and abstraction periods from New York.
Justin still uses broad brush strokes of colour and retains a free-flowing style of strokes that provides a signature to all his work and maintains a unique abstract expressionism. As he has refined his artistic voice and established himself as one of Newcastle’s leading fine artists, his initial big-and-bold style has broadened to capture portraits and a more mature expressionist style that is very human.
Justin has had several solo and joint exhibitions at independent galleries in Newcastle throughout the late 2000s and after a small hiatus from painting, Justin contributed to a few group shows as well as donating significant works towards charitable causes such as HMRI and the Mark Hughes Foundation. In 2019, Justin was commissioned by the Hunter Medical Research Institute to be the 2019 resident artist, creating an original work to be auctioned off, raising over $7000.
As Justin’s profile gained momentum during 2020, he enjoyed the success of a sold-out solo show at a local gallery in Newcastle and in 2021, Justin had one of his busiest and commercially successful years to date. Taking part in the highly successful The Other Art Fair in Sydney and a sold-out collection through Sibu Gallery, Sydney, Justin also had sold-out success in Newcastle with a group show and solo exhibition, selling out in just two days. Justin concluded the year with his second solo exhibition, which celebrated the exuberance of the 1980’s period. Again, the exhibition attracted interest from buyers and collectors, and again was a huge success selling multiple pieces.
In 2022, Justin opened his own gallery in the West End of Newcastle, Wester Gallery. Justin continues to produce work for solo and group exhibitions. enjoy commission work from a range of collectors and organisations and remains committed to working for charitable causes. Justin’s work exists in private collections throughout Australia, New Zealand, England, and Europe. Justin has been a finalist in the Newcastle Emerging Artist prize multiple times.
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