Rape allegations against artist Anthony Lister revealed in court
Artist Anthony Lister says he will strenuously defend the 18 charges — including six of sexual intercourse without consent — filed against him. Lister, who was granted bail last week, is accused of raping four women.
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Moments after they had sex at his studio, a young art student claims she felt a pain on her rib and looked down to see famous street artist Anthony inking a tattoo on her torso.
It was three lines forming an incomplete square, according to documents tendered to Central Local Court on Thursday — where Lister was released on bail — that outline the police case against the internationally recognised artist who is accused of raping four women.
The woman told police she was intoxicated and in shock when she asked Lister what he was doing, and that he replied: “It is a house because I feel so at home with you.”
It was November 28, 2015. The woman, an art student, told police she had gone to Lister’s Redfern studio after he had been a guest lecturer at her school and later contacted her on social media asking to meet. She had asked for an internship and he had said yes, the police documents said.
According to the documents, Lister gave her wine at the studio and asked if he could paint her wearing lingerie but had no sexual intentions.
Soon after, the documents said he asked her to expose her breasts and the pair ended up having sex.
The woman told police she did not immediately report the incident to police because she was unsure if she had been sexually assaulted.
She eventually made a complaint to police and is one of women referred to in court as “young and impressionable” who claim they were sexually assaulted by the artist whose work is internationally recognised and collected by celebrities including Hugh Jackman and Pink.
Lister is facing 18 charges, including six of sexual intercourse without consent. He has strongly denied the allegations and plans to fight the charges.
Two of the women told police they were in a “romantic relationship” with Lister. Three of the women had sex with Lister on multiple occasions, court documents state.
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The artist’s barrister Hament Dhanji SC told Central Local Court on Thursday the case against his client was weak, saying the only foundation for the charges was the evidence of each of the women and there was no other corroborating evidence.
The barrister said Lister agreed to be interviewed by police and told them he denied the allegations.
This denial was backed up in a statement released by Mr Lister’s lawyer Stewart Levitt on Wednesday that said the artist was “distressed” by the charges, which he “emphatically denies” and planned to defend.
The statement also it would be a test case on “the responsibilities of men and women in sexual encounters to themselves and to each other”.
However, police prosecutor Kerry-Ann McKinnon told the court the 40-year-old lured “young and impressionable” women to his home and studio before sexually assaulting them.
The police documents said Lister turned up at the art student's workplace in December 2016 crying and asked her for help in buying presents for his daughters.
She later delivered the gifts to Lister’s Darlinghurst home. The documents said she became intoxicated and slept in a spare bed. Police allege Lister came into the room and had sex with her despite her saying no.
A second woman told police she met Lister through a mutual friend at a party and commenced a “romantic relationship” with the artist that was “never exclusive”, the documents said.
The woman told police Lister would get her intoxicated. This allegedly included during a gathering at his home in March 2017 when his work was to be on the cover of Vogue Australia.
Police allege the woman went to bed intoxicated and that Lister had sex with her despite her saying no, the documents said.
The third woman was also a young art student who followed Lister on Instagram, which the pair used to connect on March 29, 2017. The exchange ended with the artist inviting her to his home.
She told police she visited Lister’s house two days later. He sketched her but she stopped messaging him after leaving, reasoning that it was inappropriate because she was in a relationship with someone else.
When that relationship ended, the woman told police she contacted Lister and eventually formed a “romantic and sexual” relationship with him, the documents said.
In March 2018, the woman claims she told Lister “You’ve been hurting me for a long time”, the documents said.
She told police he replied “You know you can trust me, you know I would never do any of that to you” and then had sex with her despite her saying no, the documents said.
A fourth woman told police she met Lister through two mutual friends who took her to a gathering at his home on October 15, 2017, after saying “we are going to someone important’s house, so be cool”, the documents said.
Once there, the woman said Lister offered her a cocktail of drugs, which she took and removed her pants when he encouraged her to do so.
The woman told police her friends had left when she woke at Lister’s home the following morning and that the artist told her: “You need to go and get the morning after pill, we had sex.”
Lister is next due in court on May 7.