Justin Williams

In Synonym, the Australian painter Justin Williams presents variated scenes that incite a mixed bag of feelings, namely that of familiarity and strangeness. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with suburban Australia as his stomping ground and Egyptian ancestry in the fold, the folkloric motifs that appear in his canvases are notably hard to place. Across his quotidian setting, a strongly figured cast of characters seem deeply enmeshed in these moments that are like candid scenes from a film where the volume is off. While it may be impossible to know what his characters are thinking as they wait together for a Bialetti to boil, or gather around a hookah by the bed or under skinny trees, there is something electric passing between them.

By Zara Kand

In the literary sense, the word synonym refers to an expression which holds a similar meaning to another word or phrase of the same language. In his current show at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles, Synonym, artist Justin Williams plays with this notion by expressing an underlying commonality and humanity between his subjects, through wildly differing scenarios. The Australian-born artist, now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has created a body of intimate works inspired by a culturally diverse life, including whispers of his ancestral roots in Egypt.

By Joseph A. Hazani

Mr. Justin Williams introduces us to a planar perspective with idyllic ideas with his Synonym opening at Roberts Projects. The anthropocentrism in each of the proudly large canvases provides us with that visibility on what would otherwise be considered bromidic or insipid; nothing that aims at attempting to breach the surreal or imaginatively transcendent. Yet, beauty does not need to rely upon such outstretched aims which can breach the vain. And Mr. Williams affirms this with his splendid artwork.

Born in Melbourne and now working in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Williams seems at ease in front of canvas, building a story, articulating a feeling that is both nostaligic and nuanced but also universal. One of the standout paintings in the show, Tap has sprung a leak, this trap is our trap, and the glass will only ever spill what it contains (2023), has a visceral setting of a relationship, a domestic chore, a new life sprung from youth and now adult. The looks on the faces, both concerned and unknowing, is a special trait of the work. They are making coffee, but they may as well be doing a chemistry experiment. And that is where Williams is so gifted, leaving you wanting more and trying to find a new word to describe your feeling.