Dabs Myla at Metro Gallery – Photo by Dean Sunshine

Here’s some of the amazing stuff that happened in Melbourne last month. I’m sorry it’s so late – I am already working on the March post. Damn I am proud to post about my home town. So much goodness every month. Enjoy!

Read the rest of this article »

Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Numskull, Meggs, Roach, Rone, Sofles painted an awesome new piece in Hosier Lane Melbourne over the weekend. A great meeting of styles and colours. I love it.

Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Photos by Dean Sunshine

Melbourne’s Meggs (Everfresh) is back home and has a solo show opening this Friday at Backwoods Gallery.

From the press release:

After a successful residency and solo exhibition with Whitewalls Gallery in San Francisco, Meggs returns to his hometown of Melbourne for ‘Truth in Myth II’ at Backwoods Gallery in Collingwood.

Fusing elements of contemporary superheroes to ancient mythological beings, ‘Truth in Myth II’ is a collection of new artworks that expressively reference classic renaissance composition and contemporary pop culture. A continuation of Meggs’ search for balance and the understanding of physical and ideological duality in self.

“We live in the stories we tell ourselves. In a secular, scientific rational culture lacking in any convincing spiritual leadership, superhero stories speak loudly and boldly to our greatest fears, deepest longings and highest aspirations… the best superhero stories deal directly with mythic elements of the human condition… they help us confront and resolve even the deepest existential crisis. We should listen to what they have to tell us.” - Grant Morrison, ‘Supergods’, Spiegal & Grau, New York USA, 2011.

Photos courtesy of Backwoods Gallery

Rone (Everfresh) from Melbourne is having a show in September at White Walls Gallery in San Francisco.

His work just keeps getting better and better, I’m loving his new style.

From the press release:

White Walls is pleased to present “Darkest Before the Dawn,” the first SF solo show of Melbourne-based artist Rone to follow his successful San Francisco debut in the “Young and Free” showcase of Australian street artists at 941 Geary in 2011. “Darkest Before the Dawn,” will feature works on canvas, brick, and paper, varying in size from 3’x2’ to large-scale works measuring over 6’x6’. The opening reception will be Saturday, September 8th, from 7-11pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through September 29th, 2012.

With the face of the same wide-eyed and sharp-featured woman starring in each portrait, Rone creates a modern legend. Separately, each piece is an autonomous work, existing through its own beauty, but when viewed together a narrative is opened, leaving us to wonder what led to the birth of this icon. In “Darkest Before the Dawn,” Rone tells us that his feature character stands as a symbol for the possibility of assimilating our worst moments into a new strength.

By incorporating a variety of techniques, Rone deliberately infuses each piece with the textures he readily encounters when working out in the streets. The build-up and deconstruction of multiple layers is a fluid, free flowing way of revealing a composition by letting it come about itself. The medley of patterns and textures embody the continuity of time passing, while the woman in the midst of it all personifies grace overcoming deterioration.

Got an email the other day with some sad new for Melbourne and some awesome news for our friends in Europe and the USA. Reka’s moving overseas and having a final show at Backwoods to celebrate. I love his work on found objects so I’m really looking forward to this show.

From the Backwoods press release:

After a ten year career defacing the streets and gallery walls of Melbourne, Reka is packing up, moving overseas and having one last hurrah. He will be holding an open studio for one night only, displaying a new body of work exclusively painted on found objects.

Using spray cans and rusted metal found from walking the train lines and abandoned factories, Reka has organically used each aspect of his natural element to create a process- driven concept, turning everything from the cans’ paper labels to the folds of oxidised sheet metal into self-contained artworks.

On June 20th, Reka is opening up his studio for a behind the scenes look at his new paintings and mixed media works, plus throwing in some paintings from the past decade for good measure. It’ll be an exhibition and leaving party all rolled into one, so come down and join Reka for a one final beer.

More preview photos after the jump… Read the rest of this article »

Got an email from Mr Reka the other day with some shots of a new wall he painted in Fitzroy. Fresh, Loving everything he does lately.

Photos courtesy of Reka

Makatron

Mike Makatron (another member of the Everfresh crew) is a master of mixed media. His recent show “Mother of Millions” was amazing and showed off his skills across a variety of media and styles. I also love stumbling upon his giant pieces around inner Melbourne like the giant fish on Smith st Collingwood and the Vet Clinic on Johnston st Fitzroy. Mike’s art, both street and studio, clearly shows his interest in flora and fauna.

As well as making the walls of Melbourne beautiful, Makatron has traveled and painted abroad in places including New York, Berlin, and India and Brazil.

I caught up with Mike and this is what we talked about… The interview has been in the vault for a while though, so a few of the references to dates are a bit, well, outdated. Read the rest of this article »

Rone

A few members of Australia’s Everfresh Studio were recently in Hawaii for POW WOW Hawaii 2012. Here’s some of what Rone, Phibs and Meggs got up to, along with some other collaborators.

Phibs

Meggs, Angry Woebots, Will Barras, Mr Jago and Pear Tarr

Photos by Rone

Last night I went to the launch of Reka‘s latest show “Primary Suspects” at Backwoods gallery in Collingwood. As usual Reka did not disappoint.

Reka’s blog gives a good run down of what the show is all about… “When a suit goes to work, they take their briefcase. When I go to work, I take my cans. Primary Suspects is a reflective exploration into the lifestyle of street vandals and the effect that it takes on us, both mentally and physically. From brushes with the law, confrontations with other graffiti writers, climbing onto rooftops and exploring the underground, the streets have become our desks” (Read the rest here).

The show also explores Reka’s fascination with old found spray cans, which he has painted and named after some of Melbourne’s graffiti and street art legends.

Apart from the paintings and old cans, Reka put together a short looping film of himself wearing a suit and getting sprayed by hydrants full of paint in the 4 primary colours. This played on the back wall and got a lot of attention.

Check out the promo clip as well, very funny! (from RJ’s post a few days ago) Read the rest of this article »

Rone outside of The Underbelly Show

Rone was in Miami for last week for The Underbelly Show, but while he was there he painted a few walls. As always, it great to see some Australian talent getting up in the USA.