Melbourne: Hosier Lane street art (pt. 2)

 

Here's the second installment of Hosier Lane stencils and paste-ups from my Melbourne trip.

I'm heading back there in a matter of hours. Hoping I find a few pieces for you.

 

I'm still really into these posters. It's not just that they're anti-consumerist and hilarious. They have presence, and that's saying something, as they are among some of the best street art and graff in Australia.

I'd be curious to know if Steez did this before Prime Minister Julia Gillard knifed Kevin Rudd. I just feel sorry for Rudd. According to this Flickr photo, this paste-up is at least a year old; pre-dating the Rudd-Gillard 'execution'.

This man reminds me of someone. Greens leader Bob Brown? Every other 50+ businessman ever born?

Step back, getting horny.

Yes, some street artists address the fact their works are outside a 'conventional gallery' by using frames.

I've seen these 'found object trash sculptures' in Sydney too.

We live in a fragile world? Shit yeah.

YES.

 
Simple expressionistic posters. Love.

 

Hahaha. Just think of how many people DON'T say this phrase, but think it regularly.

 

For non-Australians, the Banksia is one of our native wildflowers.

More beautiful trash.

A live wheatpaste. 

Here are some more Shepard Fairey pieces. They're permanent, backlit works. I think they add colour and arouse pedestrian intrigue in the lane.

However, I'm tempted to call these advertisements.

Fuck it. These are advertisements.

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Melbourne: Hosier Lane street art

Here is a photo gallery I snapped in Melbourne. There isn't much I need to say about it; a number of talented artists have sprayed and wheatpasted their work on the walls of the iconic Hosier Lane.

If you like street art and happen to be in Melbourne, I recommend checking it out. Highly.

This is by Deb. I met her while I was down there. She's nice.

The famous Shepard Fairey and his OBEY poster. The other two posters are more recent work of his.

Milk crates included for scale.

Wanna bang?

 

I really liked these one-line posters. Straight to the point. That point is somewhere up your culo. If anyone knows who did them please comment below.

This is a draft sketch for Grand Theft Auto: Denmark 1628.

This reminds me of Roa.

And again.

GRAFFITI WARS. I find 'graff writers' hitting 'street artists' fascinating. I've lost count the number of times "art fag" has been sprayed on a paste-up or stencil in Sydney. A prime example of this dichotomous relationship is the Robbo vs Banksy saga.

 

Edward Scissorhands. 

 

This piece is called Found Cans in a Bin Yay.

The Acid Midget visits Melbourne street art hub Hosier Lane

So I spent the weekend in Melbourne getting to know some locals, watching that annoying AFL grand final, drinking crisp ciders and shooting street art.

Melbs, I got a crush on you.

I'm still tired and groggy (so hard being human). I won't have it all ready today, but the above image is a taste of an upcoming post on Hosier Lane in the CBD. If you haven't been I recommend taking the time to do it.

It's fucking wunderbar.

Previous coverage:

Melbourne Council workers destroy Banksy stencil in Hosier Lane

melbourne council destroys banksy stencil, imitator creates new ones

Melbourne City Council sent cleaners to Hosier Lane last week to tidy up garbage, graffiti and probably exterminate homeless people. This was in response to complaints from locals about the "squalid conditions" of the laneway, according to a brief in the New York Times. In the process they painted over a Banksy stencil that depicted a parachuting rat. It was one of a few Banksy's in the country and was practically untouched since 2003.

The media were all over this story like vermin to cheese, with The Age reporting that Melbourne Council CE Kathy Alexander said council "should have acted sooner" to protect Banksy pieces like this.

But it's redundant to say council should have acted sooner, when they sent their own staff to clean the mess that makes Melbourne the "street art capital" of Australia, according to Ms Alexander herself.

The bungle outraged the Melbourne street art community. Following this, a stenciler headed out to Hosier Ln to 'stab back' at council. They sprayed 10 parachuting rats, where the original was destroyed, in fluoro.

Banksy would be pleased with all the press. So much hype around his work ahead of the Australian release of his new film Exit Through The Gift Shop will only draw the attention of more people outside the street art community. The irony he uses to parody capitalist democracies is now so celebrated by the people within them that governments are consecrating his work - or reprimanded for not.

Image via xmacex.