Melbourne Monthly Madness – February (belated) 2014

Still playing catch up on my posts, so here’s my favourites from February. Lots of great stuff yet again in February featuring works by Melbourne’s local talent and a few from our many interstate and international visitors.

To start off the month AllThoseShapes brought us some great bits and pieces, including this great paste from Lucy Lucy, another neon piece from Straker (loving this new style of his), some more rad stencils from Akemi Ito, this apt piece by Spie with an angry gorilla commenting on taggers in Hosier and Rutledge lanes (2 of Melbourne’s most tagged/capped lanes) and a couple of slaps from MIO, who is killing it at the moment with stickers and lots of throwies around town.

Lucy Lucy. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Lucy Lucy. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
Straker. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Straker. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
Akemi Ito. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Akemi Ito. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
Spie. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Spie. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes.

Dean Sunshine captured these great abando pieces by Slicer, Rashe and Jaw. A shot of the finished wall at the annual Park St Party paint up by Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime. And finally 3 from Dean’s top ten, amazing pieces by Choq and Sueb, Makatron and SAGE.

Slicer. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Slicer. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Jaws. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Jaw. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime (Park Street Party). Photo by Dean Sunshine
Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime (Park Street Party). Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Choq and Sueb. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Choq and Sueb. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Makatron. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Makatron. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
SAGE. Photo by Dean Sunshine
SAGE. Photo by Dean Sunshine.

David Russell was a busy man as usual. Rad pieces from the Pull UP party at Juddy Roller (which saw a full repaint of the space) by Choq, Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaw, Rashe, DEAMS, Taylor White and Brian Itch. A nice new piece from Kaffeine. And finally Ink and Clog, who visited us from Singapore, painted these 2 great walls. I’ve also included another great shot by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva showing a different perspective again of the Hosier Lane with his awesome 180 degree technique.

Choq. Photo by David Russell
Choq. Photo by David Russell.
Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaws, Rashe. Photo by David Russell
Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaw, Rashe. Photo by David Russell.
Slicer, Jaws, Shawn Lu Rashe, Adnatea and DEAMS. Photo by David Russell
Slicer, Jaw, Shawn Lu, Rashe, Adnatea and DEAMS. Photo by David Russell.
Taylor White. Photo by David Russell
Taylor White. Photo by David Russell.
Brian Itch. Photo by David Russell
Brian Itch. Photo by David Russell.
Kaffeine. Photo by David Russell
Kaffeine. Photo by David Russell.
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell.
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell.
Ink & Clog. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Ink & Clog. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.

Ink and Clog also put this short video together after their trip to Melbourne.

Phoenix the Street Artist -  Photo via Invurt
Phoenix the Street Artist. Photo via Invurt.

Finally I had to include this interview by Fletch from Invurt with Phoenix the Street Artist, one of my favourite interviews I have read in a long time, about one of my favourite Melbourne street artists. (Check out his work here).

That’s all for February. March post coming soon.

Photos courtesy of AllThoseShapes, Roberth Pinarete Villanueva, Dean Sunshine, David Russell and Invurt

Video courtesy of Ink and Clog

Melbourne Monthly Madness – January (belated) 2014

Ok, So I am a few months behind on what’s been happening in Melbourne since the start of the year. Summer in Melbourne is always action packed with lots happening. Here’s some of my favourite work from January. February and March posts coming soon.

AllThoseShapes is always capturing all the happenings on the street. I’m loving Akemi Ito‘s stencils that seem to be popping up everywhere lately, I not only like the imagery but also his process drawing, inking and cutting each stencil from scratch. Good to see some new stencils. A great paste by Lifetime Stickyfingers and I love these abstract pieces by Quellle Atak and Madmax. AllThoseShapes also released his new book Figment – which is available here. A great book.

Akemi Ito - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Akemi Ito. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
Lifetime Stickyfingers - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Lifetime Stickyfingers. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
Quelle Atak - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Quelle Atak. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
Madmax - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Madmax. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

David Russell, chief photographer at Invurt, has really stepped up his game lately and has captured some amazing photos. I have also included a couple of shots below Dave’s by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva, a new photographer in Melbourne, to show the contrast in styles. I love what Roberth does and his shots give you an amazing and different perspective of the works. Roberth takes photos from all angles and then combines them, with stunning results.

Adnate and Two One - Photo by David Russell
Adnate and Two One. Photo by David Russell.
Adnate and TwoOne - Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Adnate and TwoOne. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.
Adnate and TwoOne - Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Adnate and TwoOne. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.
Kaffeine - Photo by David Russell
Kaffeine. Photo by David Russell.
Kaffeine - Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Kaffeine. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.

Awesome pieces by Putos, Style, Straker and TwoOne. I’ve also included a shot of Keith Haring‘s mural painted in the 80’s which was recently restored (and if you look closely some idiot has tagged it already, hmmm).

Putos - Photo by David Russell
Putos. Photo by David Russell.
Straker - Photo by David Russell
Straker. Photo by David Russell.
Style - Photo by David Russell
Style. Photo by David Russell.
TwoOne - Photo by David Russell
TwoOne. Photo by David Russell.
Keith Haring (restored) - Photo by David Russell
Keith Haring (restored). Photo by David Russell.

One from StreetsmART featuring Senekt‘s infamous fingers  alongside another stencil by Akemi Ito.

Senekt & Akemi Ito - Photo by StreetsmART
Senekt & Akemi Ito. Photo by StreetsmART.

And to finish off the month, here’s my picks from Dean Sunshine’s top ten – great pieces by Shida, Senekt and DEAMS.

Shida - Photo by Dean Sunshine
Shida. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Senekt - Photo by Dean Sunshine
Senekt. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
DEAMS - Photo by Dean Sunshine
DEAMS. Photo by Dean Sunshine.

Photos courtesy of Dean Sunshine, David Russell, AllThoseShapes, StreetsmART and Roberth Pinarete Villanueva

Melbourne Monthly Madness – December 2013

Damn, it’s February already. How did that happen?? (Actually – I have been extremely busy working on a new project which I hope to share with you soon). Sorry to keep you waiting for this post.

December 2013 was another MASSIVE month in Melbourne, a great way to end the year.

Darbotz, an Indonesian street artist, visited Melbourne in December and put together this great little video.

Adnate painted Strike Bowling in Macquarie in association with Red Bull. A great video by Michael Danischewski. Adnate’s photo realism is just amazing.

Wonderwalls, a 3 day street art and graffiti festival up north in Wollongong looked awesome, featuring a great line up of Australian and International artists. From Melbourne Shida, Wonderlust, Adnate, Two One, Idiot and Sirum.

Wonderwalls Festival 2013 from The Hours on Vimeo.

Backwoods Gallery had their last show “A Study of Hands” for 2013 and it was a cracker, continuing on in the anatomy series – which will apparently continue over ten years – epic. I particularly liked works by Dave Kinsey and Lister.

Alex Mitchell, Curator of Backwoods Gallery and writer for The Opening Hours was back in Melbourne for the month. Alex did some great studio visits with Two One, Miso and Ghostpatrol. Some great, intimate photos.

Two One - Photo by Alex Mitchell
Two One. Photo by Alex Mitchell.
Miso. Photo by Alex Mitchell.
Miso. Photo by Alex Mitchell.
Ghost Patrol. Photo by Alex Mitchell.
Ghost Patrol. Photo by Alex Mitchell.

Everyone’s been talking about this abando and I can see why. David Russell managed to find his way in and capture some amazing work. I really love Slicer’s geometrical shapes filled with his signature slices, as well as Deams, and Rashe’s pieces. All of this work feels so at home in this place. I do love abandos! More here.

Slicer - Photo by David Russell
Slicer. Photo by David Russell.
Slicer - Photo by David Russell
Slicer. Photo by David Russell.
Slicer - Photo by David Russell
Slicer. Photo by David Russell.
Slicer - Photo by David Russell
Slicer. Photo by David Russell.
Deams - Photo by David Russell
Deams. Photo by David Russell.

Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – December 2013”

Melbourne Monthly Madness – August 2013

Sorry this post is so late. I’ve had an injured hand, so typing has been a pain, literally… Here’s my round up for August. I’m calling this month the Video Edition, cos I don’t think I can recall a month where so many awesome videos came out… Here we go…

To start off check out this great video from Jack Douglas. Jack is a talented Melbourne street artist and tattooist; this video shows some of his street and tattoo work. His characters are always awesome.

Another rad video featuring local writer BOLTS smashing some walls across Melbourne with his always super tight style.

Do you know what a “bogan” is? It’s an Australian colloquialism, this video from Melbourne writer AEON (created alongside VNA magazine) gives you a perfect explanation of the Aussie Bogan, lost in London.

LINZ from Queensland visited Melbourne and painted this great piece. LINZ also talks about his time as a writer and how things have changed so much over the years.

This video from Spacerunner is definitely my favourite video for the month. SIMR and Rides showing us how it’s done painting one of Melbourne’s trains in the dark of the night.

Check out this video featuring interviews with Rone, Sandra Powell and Andrew King discussing their views on street art in galleries and the streets and the general attitude towards the art recently in Melbourne.

Rone was in Portland Oregon recently for Forrest for the Trees festival.

A new video from LUSH.

And finally Reka painted this epic 8 story wall in Copenhagen.

Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – August 2013”

Melbourne Monthly Madness – June 2013

June was another busy month in Melbourne. My round up for the month includes trains, walls, shows, a rad new publication and some other bits and pieces of goodness.. I’ll start with my favourite train for June. This one ran on June 6th – thanks to The best of Melbourne Graffiti for the pic. This guy has been killing it lately!

01 RUNZ - Photo via The Best of Melbourne Graffiti
RUNZ. Photo courtesy of The Best of Melbourne Graffiti.

Some shots from Burg’s show at the Vic below, more here. Burg’s street characters are some of my faves with twisted and expressive faces appearing all around Melbourne.

BURG - Photo by AllThoseShapes
BURG. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
BURG - Photo by AllThoseShapes
BURG. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
BURG - Photo by AllThoseShapes
BURG. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

Knock Knock Magazine released their latest issue, Issue 4 -The Travel Issue. Knock Knock is an online magazine focusing on talented creative people, this issue features articles on Ben Quilty, Mark Drew, Geoffrey Lillemon, Dave Cragg, Sobekcis, Sheryo & The Yok, Onur Gulfidan, Rosek, Haribow, Maaden, Beatrix Curran, Kate Florence Knowlden, Val Kelmer, Jess Howell, Robyn Aubrey, Arman Nobari, Embassy, Spoonty and DoubleTrouble. A great read and a well put together production. Check out these screen shots from Issue 4:

Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4

Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – June 2013”

Melbourne Monthly Madness – April 2013

Another massive month in Melbourne in April with some great events, shows and work on the streets. This month I’ve also decided to include a bit more on graff and also some work off the streets in some of Melbourne’s awesome abandos.

Melbourne Train Graff - Photo by lukey006 on instagram
Melbourne Train Graff. Photo by Luke McManus.

There’s been an explosion of panels running in Melbourne recently, including a couple of whole cars. Whilst some of the pieces are not the best in quality it’s still rad to see so much graff on trains again lately. Are the authorities asleep? Or is it our lack of trains to meet demand to blame so they HAVE to run them? The best of Melbourne graffiti Facebook page is a good place to keep up with what’s running, they cover anything running each day on the Melbourne rail network (good and bad). Here’s my favourite flick from the page for April. Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – April 2013”

Melbourne Monthly Madness – March

Damn. It’s almost May! Sorry this is so late but it’s worth the wait. March was another action packed month in Melbourne.

Baby Guerrilla - Photo by David Russell
Baby Guerrilla. Photo by David Russell.

Starting off with Baby Guerrilla‘s show in Footscray. Baby Guerrilla’s paste ups have been adorning Melbourne’s walls for a few years now, and they are some of my favourites, her gallery work was new for me and I loved seeing a different side of the artist.

Baby Guerrilla - Photo by David Russell
Baby Guerrilla. Photo by David Russell.

Adnate was 1 of 3 Melbourne graffiti/street artists that entered the renowned Archibald prize. From the Archibald website “The Archibald Prize is awarded annually to the best portrait, ‘preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia’.” It’s great to see some more modern painting techniques making it into this more conventional competition. Adnate painted a portrait of Samantha Harris; an Australian indigenous model. Also make sure you check out the video by Michael Danischewski below.

Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – March”

Melbourne Monthly Madness – January 2013

DOES at Juddy Roller - Photo by David Russell
DOES at Juddy Roller. Photo by David Russell.

So I’ve decided to start a monthly post on Vandalog to try and capture all the goings on in and around Melbourne each month as there’s always a lot happening. For completeness sake and because I don’t want anyone to miss out on this, here’s a belated January round up. What a great way to start the year! Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – January 2013”