The Curtain Breathed Deeply is an expansive new commission by Sydney-based artist Justene Williams. The exhibition is a determinedly chaotic, immersive and inter-related sequence of installations, seducing visitors into and through a spectrum of hypnotising sets and video installations abounding in sensory overload and cacophony.
In The Curtain Breathed Deeply Williams melds references from art history – Picasso, Leger and Kahlo – with a range of everyday pop cultural influences including hip hop music, Milli Vanilli and A Chorus Line. In a series of choreographed performative videos the artist blends together references drawing on rituals of Shamanism, Voodooism and Modernist primitivism.
Calling upon memories of her father’s wrecking yard, her childhood training in dance, and her experiences constructing elaborate retail window displays, Williams uses found objects and waste materials to create dazzling theatrical environments.
The Curtain Breathed Deeply was curated and developed by Artspace and is touring nationally in partnership with Museums & Galleries of NSW. The generous bequest of the Catalyst: Katherine Hannay Visual Arts Commission has enabled Artspace to support Justene Williams in the development of this major new work at a pivotal moment in her career. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. Museums & Galleries of NSW is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW and is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
