COMA Inaugurates Major Sydney Expansion with Justin Williams Exhibition

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COMA, the Sydney contemporary gallery who represents artists from Australia and the wider Asia Pacific region such as Kieren Karritpul, Nick Modrzewski, Young-jun Tak, and Lu Yang, will open its newly expanded space on 31 January 2025.

Situated at 37 Chapel Street in the inner west suburb of Marrickville, COMA’s new space features a large exhibition area, private viewing rooms, storage facilities, and a merchandise space.

Gallery manager Chloe Morrissey told Ocula: ‘Having a bigger venue not only enables us to offer artists the freedom to extend and expand their practices aesthetically and physically, but also invites the Australian public to truly experience what commercial galleries have to offer.’

Since opening in 2016, COMA has championed Australian and international artists at various stages of their careers. Now one of the largest commercial spaces in Australia, COMA’s expansion marks a significant step in elevating the region’s art scene.

The new space’s inaugural exhibition is a solo show by Australian-born, U.S.-based painter Justin Williams, titled Waiting for Lavender (31 January–22 February 2025). In a statement, Williams described his new body of work as ’[bringing] together both my own past and shared familial memories, but also my own sense of a loss of belonging as I moved from city to city, town to town.’

‘The recent birth of my daughter, Lavender, has changed the way I rationalise my place in a foreign land . . . This sensation is something I want to capture—the feeling of security in a place of unfamiliarity,’ Williams said.

COMA’s refurbishment follows a global trend of converting industrial sites into art spaces, with similar approaches taken by the likes of Gagosian and David Zwirner in New York, Blum in Los Angeles, and more locally, 1301SW in Sydney, who last year opened their new space in the neighbouring suburb of Alexandria. —[O]

Main image: Justin Williams, Captive audience (2022). Oil on canvas. 193 x 208 cm. Courtesy the artist and COMA, Sydney.