Melbourne street art
Encyclopedia
Melbourne
, the second largest city in Australia, has gained international notoriety for its diverse range of street art
and associated subcultures. Throughout the 1970s and 80s much of the city's disaffected youth were influenced by the graffiti
of New York which subsequently became popular in inner city suburbs and along suburban railway and tram
lines. After the turn of the century when stencil art
first became prominent in the UK, Melbourne was one of, perhaps the first, major city outside of the UK that embraced this art form, causing a vast increase in public awareness of the concept of street art.
Around the turn of the 21st century, within the space of 3 to 4 years, many other forms of street art began to appear in Melbourne including; stencil art, woodblocking, sticker art
, poster art
, wheatpasting, graphs
, various forms of street installation
s and reverse graffiti
. Tag
s are becoming increasingly less popular as the public consciousness and local councils alike, view street art as an art form and tagging as vandalism. A strong sense of community ownership
and DIY ethic
exists amongst street artists in Melbourne, who endeavour for the progression of society through awareness created in part by their work.
Many galleries in the central business district are now starting to exhibit stencil art and photos of stencil art, such as City Lights Gallery & Until Never Gallery. Melbourne's train lines
are the main locations for graphs and tagging. Hoiser Lane is Melbourne's most famous laneway for street art with many visitors from around the world who have left their mark. Prominent international street artists such as Banksy
(UK), Fafi (France) and Logan Hicks, have contributed work to Melbourne's streets along with many other visitors from all over the world, most prominently; Germany, Canada, USA, the UK and New Zealand.
The first stencil festival in the world was held in Melbourne in 2004, in which the work of many major international street artists were exhibited.
Many prominent Melbourne and Australian street artists are featured in “Space Invaders: Australian . street . stencils . posters . paste-ups . zines . stickers ”, an exhibition of Street Art at the National Gallery of Australia(NGA) in Canberra. The exhibition includes more than 40 of Australia's most prolific and infamous street artists active over the past 10 years. The exhibition opened 29 October 2010 and will tour Australia over the next two years, visiting Melbourne, Australia's renowned Street Art capital, in September. The list of artists includes, amongst others, Meggs, Rone, Haha, Vexta, Xero, Ash Keating, Dlux!, Meek, Sync, Optic, Aeon, Jumbo, Anon, Anonymous, Azlan, Braddock, Al Stark, Yok, Byrd, Civil, Makatron, Miso, Ghostpatrol, Xerox, James Dodd, Tai Snaith, Adrian Doyle, Marcsta, Reks, Lister, Wesam, Nuroc, Monkey, Nails, Twoone, Arlene Textaqueen, Psalm, You/Luke, Proof, Prizm, Phibs, Zap, And Sixten (Swedish, lived in Melbourne early 2000s), and Mini Graff
.
's Disney World recreated a Melbourne laneway cityscape, decorated with street art. Victorian Premier John Brumby
forced the tourism department to withdraw the display, calling graffiti a "blight on the city" and not something "we want to be displaying overseas." Writer Marcus Westbury
countered that street art was one of Melbourne's "biggest tourist attractions and one of its most significant cultural movements since the Heidelberg School
".
Some street artists and academics have criticized the State Government for having seemingly inconsistent and contradictory views on graffiti. In 2006, the State Government "proudly sponsored" The Melbourne Design Guide, a book which celebrates Melbourne graffiti from a design perspective. The same year, some of Melbourne's graffiti-covered laneways were featured in Tourism Victoria's Lose Yourself in Melbourne ad campaign. One year on, the State Government introduced tough anti-graffiti laws with penalties of up to two years' jail. Possession of spray cans "without lawful excuse" on or around public transport is now illegal, and police search powers have also being strengthened. According to Melbourne University criminologist Alison Young, the "state is profiting from the work of artists doing it, but another arm of the state wants to prosecute and possibly imprison (such) people." Since laws were tightened, local councils have reported a "spike" in vandalism and tagging of commissioned murals and legal street art. Adrian Doyle, founder of the Blender Studios and manager of Melbourne Street Art Tours, believes taggers have become less considerate of where they put their tags for fear of being caught by police, and are "paranoid so they are taking less time - tags are less detailed". In 2007, the City of Melbourne
started the Do art not tags initiative—an education presentation aimed at teaching primary school students the differences between graffiti and street art.
Some local councils have accepted street art and even made efforts to preserve it. In early 2008 the Melbourne City Council installed a perspex screen to prevent a 2003 Banksy
stencil art piece named Little Diver from being destroyed, however in December 2008 silver paint was poured behind the protective screen and tagged with the words "Banksy woz ere". In April 2010, another 2003 stencil by Banksy was destroyed, this time by council workers. The work was of a parachuting rat, and was believed to be the last surviving Banksy stencil in Melbourne's laneways. Lord Mayor of Melbourne Robert Doyle
said "This was not the Mona Lisa
. It is regrettable that we have lost it, but it was an honest mistake by our cleaners in removing tagging graffiti." The loss of these and other famous street artworks in Melbourne reignited a decade long debate around heritage protection for Melbourne street art. Planning Minister Justin Madden
announced in May 2010 plans for Heritage Victoria and the National Trust of Australia
to assess street art in key locations throughout Melbourne and recognize culturally significant works for preservation. Examples of street art already added to the Victorian Heritage Register
include the 1983 mural outside the Aborigines Advancement League
building, and Keith Haring
's 1984 mural in Collingwood
.
(Source: RASH documentary, 2005
)
s, master class
es and street art related films to the general public. It features works by emerging and established artists from both Australia and around the world.
Since its inception, the Stencil Festival has featured some 800 works by over 150 artists, many of whom are experiencing their first major art exhibition, finding it difficult to be exhibited in major commercial galleries reluctant to display emerging art forms. The first Melbourne Stencil Festival was held in a former sewing factory in North Melbourne in 2004. The three-day exhibition attracted spectator numbers far beyond expectations.
Mediums
Concepts
Online Galleries
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, the second largest city in Australia, has gained international notoriety for its diverse range of street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
and associated subcultures. Throughout the 1970s and 80s much of the city's disaffected youth were influenced by the graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
of New York which subsequently became popular in inner city suburbs and along suburban railway and tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
lines. After the turn of the century when stencil art
Stencil graffiti
Stencil graffiti makes use of a paper, cardboard, or other media to create an image or text that is easily reproducible. The desired design is cut out of the selected medium and then the image is transferred to a surface through the use of spray paint or roll-on paint.The process of stenciling...
first became prominent in the UK, Melbourne was one of, perhaps the first, major city outside of the UK that embraced this art form, causing a vast increase in public awareness of the concept of street art.
Around the turn of the 21st century, within the space of 3 to 4 years, many other forms of street art began to appear in Melbourne including; stencil art, woodblocking, sticker art
Sticker art
Sticker art is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers...
, poster art
Street Poster Art
Street poster art is a kind of graffiti, more specifically categorized as "street art". Posters are usually hand-made or printed graphics on thin paper...
, wheatpasting, graphs
Information graphics
Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education...
, various forms of street installation
Street installation
Street installations are a growing trend within the "street art" movement. Whereas conventional street art/graffiti is done on surfaces/walls "street installations" use 3-D objects/space to enhance/interact/interfere with the urban environment . Like graffiti, it is non-permission based and once...
s and reverse graffiti
Reverse graffiti
Reverse graffiti, also known as clean tagging, dust tagging, grime writing, green graffiti or clean advertising, is a method of creating temporary or semi permanent images on walls or other surfaces by removing dirt from a surface...
. Tag
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
s are becoming increasingly less popular as the public consciousness and local councils alike, view street art as an art form and tagging as vandalism. A strong sense of community ownership
Community ownership
Community owned assets or organisations are those that are owned and controlled through some representative mechanism that allows a community to influence their operation or use and to enjoy the benefits arising....
and DIY ethic
DIY ethic
The DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are more experienced or able complete them for one's behalf. It promotes the idea that an ordinary person can learn to do more than he or she thought was possible...
exists amongst street artists in Melbourne, who endeavour for the progression of society through awareness created in part by their work.
Many galleries in the central business district are now starting to exhibit stencil art and photos of stencil art, such as City Lights Gallery & Until Never Gallery. Melbourne's train lines
Railways in Melbourne
The Melbourne rail network is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne under franchise from the Government of Victoria. The network is based on a commuter rail model centred on the Melbourne Central Business District and Flinders Street Station, rather than a rapid transit model, with a focus on...
are the main locations for graphs and tagging. Hoiser Lane is Melbourne's most famous laneway for street art with many visitors from around the world who have left their mark. Prominent international street artists such as Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
(UK), Fafi (France) and Logan Hicks, have contributed work to Melbourne's streets along with many other visitors from all over the world, most prominently; Germany, Canada, USA, the UK and New Zealand.
The first stencil festival in the world was held in Melbourne in 2004, in which the work of many major international street artists were exhibited.
Many prominent Melbourne and Australian street artists are featured in “Space Invaders: Australian . street . stencils . posters . paste-ups . zines . stickers ”, an exhibition of Street Art at the National Gallery of Australia(NGA) in Canberra. The exhibition includes more than 40 of Australia's most prolific and infamous street artists active over the past 10 years. The exhibition opened 29 October 2010 and will tour Australia over the next two years, visiting Melbourne, Australia's renowned Street Art capital, in September. The list of artists includes, amongst others, Meggs, Rone, Haha, Vexta, Xero, Ash Keating, Dlux!, Meek, Sync, Optic, Aeon, Jumbo, Anon, Anonymous, Azlan, Braddock, Al Stark, Yok, Byrd, Civil, Makatron, Miso, Ghostpatrol, Xerox, James Dodd, Tai Snaith, Adrian Doyle, Marcsta, Reks, Lister, Wesam, Nuroc, Monkey, Nails, Twoone, Arlene Textaqueen, Psalm, You/Luke, Proof, Prizm, Phibs, Zap, And Sixten (Swedish, lived in Melbourne early 2000s), and Mini Graff
Mini Graff
Mini Graff is a New Zealand born, Sydney-based street artist who works in and around the city's urban fringe. The streets and inhabitants of the area provide the content and impetus for her work....
.
Locations
While there are small areas all over Greater Melbourne where various forms of street art can be seen, the primary areas in which street art is most dense include, in alphabetical order;- AbbotsfordAbbotsford, VictoriaAbbotsford is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. At the 2006 Census, Abbotsford had a population of 4,327....
- BrunswickBrunswick, VictoriaBrunswick is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...
& East Brunswick - CarltonCarlton, VictoriaCarlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
& Carlton NorthCarlton North, VictoriaCarlton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra... - CollingwoodCollingwood, VictoriaCollingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
- FitzroyFitzroy, VictoriaFitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
& Fitzroy NorthFitzroy North, VictoriaFitzroy North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Yarra and Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Fitzroy North had a population of 11,069.... - Melbourne City CentreMelbourne city centreMelbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...
- NorthcoteNorthcote, VictoriaNorthcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin...
& WestgarthWestgarth, VictoriaWestgarth is a locality in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Darebin. It is situated 4 or 5 km from Melbourne's central business district, just north of Clifton Hill, and a few hundred metres south of the main part of Northcote... - PrahranPrahran, VictoriaPrahran , also known colloquially as "Pran", is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Prahran had a population of 10,651. It is a part of Melbourne with...
- RichmondRichmond, VictoriaRichmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
- South YarraSouth Yarra, VictoriaSouth Yarra is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Stonnington and Melbourne...
- St KildaSt Kilda, VictoriaSt Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
Public and government responses
The proliferation of street art in Melbourne has attracted many supporters and detractors from various levels of government and in the broader community. In 2008 a tourism campaign at FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
's Disney World recreated a Melbourne laneway cityscape, decorated with street art. Victorian Premier John Brumby
John Brumby
John Mansfield Brumby , is an Australian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became Premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election...
forced the tourism department to withdraw the display, calling graffiti a "blight on the city" and not something "we want to be displaying overseas." Writer Marcus Westbury
Marcus Westbury
Marcus Westbury is an Australian festival director. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia where he filmed the TV series Not Quite Art...
countered that street art was one of Melbourne's "biggest tourist attractions and one of its most significant cultural movements since the Heidelberg School
Heidelberg School
The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. The movement has latterly been described as Australian Impressionism....
".
Some street artists and academics have criticized the State Government for having seemingly inconsistent and contradictory views on graffiti. In 2006, the State Government "proudly sponsored" The Melbourne Design Guide, a book which celebrates Melbourne graffiti from a design perspective. The same year, some of Melbourne's graffiti-covered laneways were featured in Tourism Victoria's Lose Yourself in Melbourne ad campaign. One year on, the State Government introduced tough anti-graffiti laws with penalties of up to two years' jail. Possession of spray cans "without lawful excuse" on or around public transport is now illegal, and police search powers have also being strengthened. According to Melbourne University criminologist Alison Young, the "state is profiting from the work of artists doing it, but another arm of the state wants to prosecute and possibly imprison (such) people." Since laws were tightened, local councils have reported a "spike" in vandalism and tagging of commissioned murals and legal street art. Adrian Doyle, founder of the Blender Studios and manager of Melbourne Street Art Tours, believes taggers have become less considerate of where they put their tags for fear of being caught by police, and are "paranoid so they are taking less time - tags are less detailed". In 2007, the City of Melbourne
City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she...
started the Do art not tags initiative—an education presentation aimed at teaching primary school students the differences between graffiti and street art.
Some local councils have accepted street art and even made efforts to preserve it. In early 2008 the Melbourne City Council installed a perspex screen to prevent a 2003 Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
stencil art piece named Little Diver from being destroyed, however in December 2008 silver paint was poured behind the protective screen and tagged with the words "Banksy woz ere". In April 2010, another 2003 stencil by Banksy was destroyed, this time by council workers. The work was of a parachuting rat, and was believed to be the last surviving Banksy stencil in Melbourne's laneways. Lord Mayor of Melbourne Robert Doyle
Robert Doyle
Robert Keith Bennett Doyle is an Australian politician and the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008...
said "This was not the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...
. It is regrettable that we have lost it, but it was an honest mistake by our cleaners in removing tagging graffiti." The loss of these and other famous street artworks in Melbourne reignited a decade long debate around heritage protection for Melbourne street art. Planning Minister Justin Madden
Justin Madden
Madden was 206 cm tall, and one of the tallest men ever to play Australian Rules football, and his potential in this area was fully utilized by Carlton, who used him as their main ruckman. Over the next fifteen seasons, Madden became a mainstay of the Carlton side, and one of the most...
announced in May 2010 plans for Heritage Victoria and the National Trust of Australia
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
to assess street art in key locations throughout Melbourne and recognize culturally significant works for preservation. Examples of street art already added to the Victorian Heritage Register
Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register lists places of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 1995 which establishes Heritage Victoria as the permit authority...
include the 1983 mural outside the Aborigines Advancement League
Aborigines Advancement League
The Aborigines Advancement League claims to be the oldest Aboriginal organisation in Australia...
building, and Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
's 1984 mural in Collingwood
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
.
Local terminology
- Street art or Post-graffiti: used by street artists to distinguish their art from graffiti or vandalism
- Taggers: those who place quick graffiti "tags" in discriminate places (trains, trucks, etc) or cause damage in the process (like scratching of internal fittings in trains)
- Graphers or writers: those who display their tag in an artful manner, as with a mural, displaying a high level of skill
- Graffiti: rarely used today except by those uneducated in street art culture, particularly in the media. Mostly used in a historic sense in reference to graffiti of the 1970s and 1980s.
(Source: RASH documentary, 2005
RASH (film)
Rash, stylized as RASH, is a 2005 Australian documentary film, directed by Nicholas Hansen. Its subject is contemporary urban Australia and the artists who are making it a living host for illegal artwork called street art...
)
Events
- Empty shows: illegal exhibitionArt exhibitionArt exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
s held in derelict buildings since circa 2000 - Stencil Festival: The first stencil artStencil graffitiStencil graffiti makes use of a paper, cardboard, or other media to create an image or text that is easily reproducible. The desired design is cut out of the selected medium and then the image is transferred to a surface through the use of spray paint or roll-on paint.The process of stenciling...
festival in the world was held in Melbourne in 2004. It is currently in its 5th year. - Street video projection event: Video projection events were held in Gertrude Street, FitzroyFitzroy, VictoriaFitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
in mid-2008.
Melbourne Stencil Festival
The Melbourne Stencil Festival is Australia's premier celebration of international street and stencil art. Since its inauguration in 2004 the festival has become an annual event, touring regional Victoria and other locations within Australia. The festival is held for 10 days each year, involving exhibitions, live demonstrations, artist talks, panel discussions, workshopWorkshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
s, master class
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
es and street art related films to the general public. It features works by emerging and established artists from both Australia and around the world.
Since its inception, the Stencil Festival has featured some 800 works by over 150 artists, many of whom are experiencing their first major art exhibition, finding it difficult to be exhibited in major commercial galleries reluctant to display emerging art forms. The first Melbourne Stencil Festival was held in a former sewing factory in North Melbourne in 2004. The three-day exhibition attracted spectator numbers far beyond expectations.
- 2004 - The inaugural festival was held over three days in a warehouse in North Melbourne.
- 2005 - Featured a ten-day exhibition at the refurbished Meat Market art complex. The festival was supported by the City of Melbourne and saw more than 700 visitors on the opening night.
- 2006 - The festival moved to FitzroyFitzroy, VictoriaFitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
, a major location of street art in Melbourne, and was held at the Rose Street Artists Market. For the first time the four-day event was also held in Sydney. It received reviews in major mainstream media in both MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
- 2007 - Featured a total of 75 artists from 12 countries with more than 300 works. The Melbourne event alone was attended by more than 4,000 visitors with 500 people on the opening night alone. It also attracted a wide range of media coverage including daily newspapers, community radioCommunity radioCommunity radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
and street pressStreet pressStreet press is a term used to describe a certain type of publishing, between zines and magazines/newspapers in terms of distribution, content and audience. They are particularly prolific in Australia, although there are also some examples from Europe and North America...
.
- 2008 - Toured regionally with the support of Arts Victoria to BallaratBallarat, VictoriaBallarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, SaleSale, VictoriaSale is a city in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. It is the seat of the Shire of Wellington as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale and the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland. It has a population of around 13,336, and is expected to reach a population of 14,000 soon...
and SheppartonShepparton, VictoriaShepparton is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in the north east of Victoria, Australia approximately north-east of Melbourne. It is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The estimated population of Shepparton's statistical area is 48,926.It began as a sheep station...
, and on its own effort interstate to SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and PerthPerth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
- 2009 - The Melbourne Stencil Festival 2009 ran between 25 September and 4 October 2009.
Notable Melbourne street artists
- Be Free - paste-up artist
- Chiller
- CivilianCivilian (street artist)Civilian is a street artist operating out of Melbourne, Australia, who has been profiled as a 'leading player' of "the city's vibrant stencil art scene"...
- since 2001 - Dam Mad
- Deb
- Dest
- DluxDlux (street artist)Dlux is a notable street artist operating out of Melbourne, Australia. His real name is James Dodd.Dlux began doing street art in Adelaide in 1998, working largely at first with stickers. Dlux only started doing stencils to mass-produce stickers...
- since 1998, moved to Melbourne from AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... - Dominic Allen
- Dresk (since 1996, moved to Melbourne from China)
- Fers (aka Nails)
- Fliq (BurnCrew)
- Fred FowlerFred FowlerFred Fowler is an Australian-born visual artist, specialising in painting, drawing and printmaking. He currently lives in Paris, France.-History:Fred was born in 1980 in Canberra, Australia. In 1986, Fred moved to Melbourne with his family....
(a.k.a. Nurock) - since 1995 - exhibits commercially - Ghostpatrol - moved to Melbourne from Hobart, also exhibits commercially; collaborates with Miso
- Ha-HaHa-Ha (street artist)- Work :Ha-Ha is a stencil artist based in Melbourne, originally from Hamilton, New Zealand. Despite his occupation, Ha-Ha has never been to art school. He was inspired by a street artist known as "Psalm" at the start of his stenciling career, as well as "Rone" and "Phibs". Ha-Ha engages in...
- since 2000 - Junky - small creatures using discarded junk and found objects
- Irk
- Kab 101
- Kaff-eine
- Kano
- Lister
- LBK
- mal function - sculptures of strange semi-formed heads
- Makatron - spraycan artist; part of Everfresh Crew
- MeekMeek (street artist)Meek is a notable street artist operating out of Melbourne, Australia, and specialising in the sub-genre of Stencil graffiti....
- since 2003 - Miles
- Miles Allinson
- MisoMisois a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus , the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso...
- lifesize, hand-drawn paste-up work - Nails
- Nufevah street artist since 2007
- Phibs (Everfresh)
- Phoenix the Street Artist - collage paste-ups and wall-plaques - since 2009; did The Little Diver Resurfaced - a paste-up restoration of Banksy's Little Diver in Cocker Alley
- Precious Little - paste-up artist
- PrismPrism (street artist)Prism is a notable street artist operating out of Melbourne Australia.Prism cut his first stencil in 2000 of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, with devil horns. Prism moved to Melbourne in 2001....
- since 2001, founded the Stencil Revolution, which has over 15,000 registered members - Psalm - since 1999
- Reka
- RoneRoneRone is a notable street artist living in Melbourne, Australia.- History :Born in 1980, Rone grew up in the city of Geelong, Victoria before making the move to Melbourne. In 2002, Rone started out decorating skateboards and skate parks. Since then, his work has spread to the streets and...
- since 2002, moved to Melbourne from Geelong - Shida
- Shut Up And Shop - since 1991
- Shinobi - stencil artist
- SixtenSixten (street artist)Sixten is a notable street artist operating out of Melbourne, Australia. He originally comes from Sweden. In 2009 he was credited as the inspiration for the album cover of Green Day's album titled 21st Century Breakdown by the album artwork director Chris Bilheimer.- Background :Sixten did his...
- since 2000, moved to Melbourne from SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... - Snog
- SyncSync (street artist)Sync or Syn as he is sometimes called is a notable street artist operating out of Melbourne, Australia.At the start of Sync's career he was heavily into doing sticker art. He started doing stencils in 1996 in Adelaide but only to help himself mass produce stickers.In Adelaide, Sync worked for some...
(Everfresh) - also known as Syn, moved to Melbourne from AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... - Tai Snaith
- Teo Doro
- The Doctor - paste-up artist
- Urban Cake Lady - paste-up artist
- VextaVextaVexta is a prominent Melbourne street artist. She is especially notable because she is a female operating in a male-dominated arena. Her work is mostly human portraiture. Vexta requests that her name not be published....
- since 2003, moved to Melbourne from SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... - Vosko
- Xero
- Warnazz One Son
Other media
- RASHRASH (film)Rash, stylized as RASH, is a 2005 Australian documentary film, directed by Nicholas Hansen. Its subject is contemporary urban Australia and the artists who are making it a living host for illegal artwork called street art...
(2005) - Feature length documentary film which explores the cultural value of Melbourne street art and graffiti. - Not Quite ArtNot Quite ArtNot Quite Art is an Australian TV series that documents the many media of present-day art and culture in Australia. Two seasons of the series have been produced and aired on ABC1, both with 3 episodes each, the second series also aired on ABC2. The series is created and hosted by Marcus...
(2007) - ABC TV series, episode 101 explored Melbourne's street art and DIY culture. - JISOE (2007) - documentary film about the culture of graphers and street artists in Melbourne.
- Artscape, Episode 24 February 2009, ABC TV - Ghostpatrol & Miso featured.
See also
- Street artStreet artStreet art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
- GraffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
- Culture of MelbourneCulture of MelbourneThe Culture of Melbourne reflects its diverse, multi-layered culture and society and the city is widely noted as the "cultural and sporting capital" of Australia....
- Lanes and arcades of MelbourneLanes and Arcades of MelbourneThe lanes and arcades of Melbourne, Australia, have collectively become culturally important.The Melbourne central business district's numerous lanes mostly date to the Victorian era and as a result of the original Hoddle Grid, they evolved as service laneways for horses and carts...
- RASH (2005 documentary film)RASH (film)Rash, stylized as RASH, is a 2005 Australian documentary film, directed by Nicholas Hansen. Its subject is contemporary urban Australia and the artists who are making it a living host for illegal artwork called street art...
Mediums
- Stencil artStencil graffitiStencil graffiti makes use of a paper, cardboard, or other media to create an image or text that is easily reproducible. The desired design is cut out of the selected medium and then the image is transferred to a surface through the use of spray paint or roll-on paint.The process of stenciling...
- Woodblocking
- Sticker artSticker artSticker art is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers...
- Poster artStreet Poster ArtStreet poster art is a kind of graffiti, more specifically categorized as "street art". Posters are usually hand-made or printed graphics on thin paper...
- Wheatpasting
- Street installationStreet installationStreet installations are a growing trend within the "street art" movement. Whereas conventional street art/graffiti is done on surfaces/walls "street installations" use 3-D objects/space to enhance/interact/interfere with the urban environment . Like graffiti, it is non-permission based and once...
Concepts
- Public artPublic artThe term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
- Public spacePublic spaceA public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
- Community ownershipCommunity ownershipCommunity owned assets or organisations are those that are owned and controlled through some representative mechanism that allows a community to influence their operation or use and to enjoy the benefits arising....
- Reverse graffitiReverse graffitiReverse graffiti, also known as clean tagging, dust tagging, grime writing, green graffiti or clean advertising, is a method of creating temporary or semi permanent images on walls or other surfaces by removing dirt from a surface...
External links
- Stencil Festival official website
- Stencil Archive
- RASH documentary film
- Keith Haring in Melbourne
- City of Melbourne - Laneway Commissions
- Invurt - Australian & Melbourne Street Art - Interviews, Events, Images
Online Galleries