Newtown area graffiti and street art

Introduction

Since the 1980s the area in and around the historic inner Sydney suburb of Newtown, NSW -- including the suburbs of Newtown, Enmore, Erskineville, Camperdown and St Peters -- has become well known for the many works of creative graffiti and "street art" that adorn local walls.

These works range across many styles and methods of execution. They include a number of visually striking large-scale murals, hand-painted political slogans, hand-painted figurative designs, spray-painted semi-abstract designs, and recent stylistic devlopments such as stencil art and poster graffiti.

Notable "street art" styles and locations in the greater Newtown area include:

• the numerous murals facing onto King St and adjoining streets

• the growing collection of stencil art around the photographic studio in Gladstone St, near Newtown Railway Station

• the numerous stencils, slogans and murals in and around the pedestrian tunnel under the railway line, linking Bella St and Bedford St

• the numerous and varied graffiti works in the area between Enmore Rd and the railway line, including Gladstone St, the Wilford St industrial area, Wilford Lane and Thurnby Lane

• the wide variety of murals, stencils and graffiti slogans in and around Camperdown Memorial Rest Park

• the numerous striking works of wall art in the vicinity of St Peters Station and Applebee St, near Sydney Park

Although Newtown's murals and graffiti art have played a significant role in shaping the character and image of the area, such works are by nature ephemeral, and this "collection" is constantly changing. A few examples like the "King" mural have endured for over a decade, but many others have vanished in recent years and it is common that new works remain for a just few weeks, days or in some cases only matter of hours.

One of the most celebrated acts of "street art" took place ca. 1990 when two university students painted most of Macdonaldtown Station bright pink in the early hours of the morning. Another famous case from the early 2000s was the graffiti placed on the front of the Hub Theatre late one night, which turned the two round windows into eyes, beneath which was the slogan "Touching my dick in the dark" -- a reference to the venue's former use as a "porno" cinema. This piece remained visible for only a few hours in the early morning, and by that afternoon it had already been painted over.

Another recent example is two slogans painted on the wall of a house on Salisbury Rd in Camperdown, at the intersection of Kingston Rd. A large hand-painted slogan which read "Madonna: The Devil Incarnate" was accompanied by a smaller slogan which read "iConsume". Both slogans lasted only about two weeks before being painted over.

Preservation

Preservation of the large-scale murals is problematic, and several, dating from the early 1990s, have recently been removed as urban re-redevelopment and the gentrification of the area has accelerated in line with steeply increasing property values.

The Council of the City of Sydney administers much of the Newtown area, and in Paragraph 8 of its Aerosol Art and Graffiti Policy the Council recognises that these large murals are public-domain works worthy of conservation and maintenance. Despite this, property owners and developers have deliberately removed several of the most prominent works of "street art" in the area in recent years. Other major works have been painted over, removed during commercial redevelopment, or obscured by later construction, while many other works have simply been covered over with more recent work by other graffiti artists.

Artists and attribution

Identifying the artists who have created the various murals and street-art works around Newtown can be a difficult task. Because most of these works were done illegally, many artists obviously do not wish to be identified. Another impediment is the cryptic nature of the signatures and identifying 'tags' left by the creators.

However, several of the large-scale murals created in the early 1990s can be attributed with reasonable certainty to a loose group of mural artists who called themsleves "Unmitigated Audacity Productions". This group is known to have included Sydney mural artists Matthew Peet (aka "Mistery", a member of hip-hop group The Brethren), Juilee Pryor, and New Zealand-born artist Andrew Aiken.

Aiken and Pryor have been identified as the artists who created the 'Martin Luther King' mural. The signatures on the Newtown PCYC indicate that it was created by Matthew Peet and Andrew Aiken.

According to a City of Sydney Council report, the now-erased Miles Davis mural "On The Wings of a Song" was created by Aiken and Peek, and Aiken created the now-erased "Idiot Box" mural at 64 Erskineville Rd, opposite the Imperial Hotel.

Aiken and/or Peet are also presumed to be the creators of the 'Last Supper' mural on King St, the 'Eagle' mural on Wilson St (behind the Newtown Mission) and the 'Mona Lisa' mural at the top of Erskineville Rd (opposite Newtown Post Office).

The bizarre story of Aiken's life was revealed in a 2003 Sydney Morning Herald article by Sean Nicholls. Using a donated cherry picker and $1000 worth of paint, Aiken and Pryor created the King mural over two nights in August 1991, declaring it a "humanist protest against the sterility of postmodern art".

Twelve months earlier Aiken had fled the UK after murdering a man he had lived with in a London squat and burying the body of the 40-year-old busker in the cellar. In 1997, after converting to Christianity, Aiken was convinced to give himself up by the leader of the sect he had joined, and he is now serving a life sentence for the murder in a Devon prison.

Murals and wall art of the Newtown area

King Street north

File:Herald-mural.JPG	File:King-mural-07.jpg	File:Last-supper1.JPG
"Herald" mural, King St	"Dr King" mural, King St	"Last Supper" mural, King St

The first major mural that visitors will encounter when driving or walking south along King St from the city is the "Herald" mural in northern King St, next door to the site of the former Alex Cordobes Pizza shop. This large mural (still extant in December 2006), which was evidently painted from a projected transparency, is an enlarged reproduction of the top section of the front page of the Friday 10 July 1992 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

The Martin Luther King mural biggest, most prominent and best known of the Newtown murals. Created in August 1991 it celebrates American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and also links Dr King with the campaign for civil rights for Aboriginal Australians.

The mural is located on the wall of an imposing three-storey terrace building on the western side of King St, opposite the Newtown Gym and the Thai Pothong restaurant. It is now one of the last surviving large-format murals in the area. It features a large portrait of Dr King, next to a large painted rendition of the well-known Apollo 8 photograph of the Earth from space, and Dr King's famous quote "I have a dream" in large Gothic lettering. The lower part of the mural merges into a large representation of the Aboriginal flag and in the bottom left hand corner is a quotation from Genesis 37:19:

"Behold the dreamer cometh; Come now therefore and let us slay him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams"

The Last Supper mural on King St is located opposite the intersection of Church St. This work is also thought to be by one or more members of the Unmitigated Audacity Productions group.

File:Mona-mural.JPG	File:Africamap.JPG
"Mona Lisa" mural, Erskineville Rd	"Map of Africa" mural, King St

The "map of Africa" mural in King St was originally painted in the early 1990s. This large work occupies the entire side wall of an African restaurant, located between the Newtown Mission and the Commonwealth Bank. The first version was reproduced from an old map printed by the Australian firm Chas. Scally & Co., probably dating from the 1960s. The current version, painted over the original in the early 2000s, reflects the major changes in African political geography in the recent times.

King Street south

There are a number of prominent murals and "wall art" works sited along the southern end of King St, between Newtown Station to Sydney Park. Only a few of these face directly onto King St, and most are located along the side walls of buildings on the corners of King St and the various side streets that lead off from it.

The most prominent of these is the "South of the Border" mural, which is located on the side wall of a shop on King St, just south of the Union Hotel. This mural was clearly visible for many years but is now largeley obscured by a tree growing in front of the neighbouring terrace house.

Most of the other murals in this area are painted on the side walls of shops that face onto King St.

Erskineville Road

'Below - the mural artworks on the former Newtown Police Citizens & Youth Club, cnr Erskineville Rd and Angel St

File:Pcyc2.jpg

File:Newtown-pcyc.jpg

File:Pcyc4.jpg

File:Pcyc6.jpg

File:Pcyc8.jpg

File:Pcyc9.jpg

The group of mural images, executed by Matthew Peet and Andrew Aiken in June-July 1995, are painted on the outside of the former Newtown Police Citizens Youth Club on Erskineville Rd. There are numerous panels of pictures and text, including images of the TV characters Sonny Hammond and Skippy, from the 1960s Australian TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, an image of Mr Spock from Star Trek, a stock image of two laughing European peasant women, and a reproduction of a photograph of 1980s Sydney identity the late Sallie-Anne Huckstepp. These images were still extant in mid-2007, although the building has been unused for a number of years and was recently damaged by fire and is currently surrounded by a metal hoarding, suggesting that demolition and/or redevlopment may be imminent.

The "Great Wave" mural

File:Gowrie-mural.jpg

File:Greatwave2.jpg

File:Greatwave3.jpg

File:Greatwave4.jpg

One of the most spectacular Newtown murals is the "Great Wave" mural, painted on the side of a house located at the corner of Munni St and Gowrie St in south Newtown. Created in 2000, it features a striking combination of elaborate 'tag'-type designs and pictorial images on a Japanese theme, including a huge image of a breaking wave rendered in the style of the famous Hokusai woodcut "Behind the Great Wave at Kanagawa"

Bella St

File:Fat-albert.JPG

File:Bella-wide.JPG

File:Bella1.JPG

File:Bella2.JPG

File:Bella3.JPG

The two story terrace located at the corner of Bella St and Liberty St in Newtown is another prominent Newtown street art site. The street-side walls of the his house are adorned with a number of images including 1970s cartoon character "Fat Albert" (painted on the side fence), a large flowing design incorporating a mermaid, a group of aliens, and (on the Liberty St frontage) portraits of George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix

Other large murals

The "Three Proud People" mural, which faces the railway near Macdonaldtown Station. Created ca. 2000, this mural is a reproduction of the famous photo taken at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, when black American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos created a major controversy by wearing black gloves and giving the "Black Power" salute during their medal award ceremony. The third person in the image was Australian athlete Peter Norman, who died in 2006, and the mural became the subject of significant media coverage at the time of Norman's death. The view of this mural from the railway has recently been greatly reduced by a large concrete barrier erected along the western side of the railway line between Newtown and Macdonaldtown stations.

Camperdown Memorial Rest Park

One of the key locations for political and personal graffiti in the Newtown area is the long sandstone wall surrounding St Stephen's Church in Newtown. This was constructed in the late 1940s, when the large cemetery that surrounded St Stephen's was cleared. This was prompted by the brutal murder of a local girl, whose body lay undiscovered in the overgrown graveyaerd for several days. As a result, most of the gravestones were taken up and placed around the inside of the sandstone wall, although the graves were not disturbed and the depressions that mark their locations are still discernable.

Much of the graffiti on the wall around the church are hand-painted texts, and many are politically oriented slogans, although some stencil graffiti has appeared in recent times.

Although most of the graffiti is relatively recent, some examples have survived for many years. One piece of brush-painted graffiti -- which can be reliably dated to the mid-1970s and which is still partially visible -- is the political slogan, "Is Fraser controlling your bowels?" -- a reference to controversial 1970s Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. A photograph of this slogan appeared in a 1976 book on Australian graffiti by photographer Rennie Ellis. Another venerable handpainted graffito on this wall, believed to be of a similar vintage, proclaims "Patriarchy creates destruction".

Another significant location in Camperdown Park is the various rear walls and back fences of the buildings that back onto the park and face onto Australia Street. A large continuous mural, featuring many pictoral designs and elaborate tags, has been painted along the side wall of the large commercial building that faces the Courthouse Hotel, and most of the other fences and walls in this area of the park now have murals or decorative tags, although these have changed a number of times in recent years.

Stencil graffiti

In the last few years there has been a rapid proliferation of stencil graffiti around Newtown, with dozens of designs appearing on walls in the area during 2005-2006. This development reflects the growing popularity of this style in many international cities, and particularly in Melbourne, Victoria.

The most notable location in the Newtown area is the rear wall of a property in Gladstone St, Newtown, on which the owners permit any graffiti to be applied as long as it is stencil art. During 2006 several dozen stencil designs of all shapes and sizes have been apllied, and the collection continues to grow.

File:Gladstone-stencils.jpg	File:Stencil wall, Apr. 07.JPG
Gladstone St stencil wall, Aug. 2006	Gladstone St stencil wall, Apr. 2007

Poster graffiti

During 2007 several large-scale examples of this new form of graphic street art have appeared in the Newtown area. Many small poster and sticker type graffiti graphics have been placed in various locations over the last few years, but these larger works -- similar in scope to the many large poster graffiti works that have appeared in Melbourne in recent years -- are a relatively recent development in Newtown.

Unlike the conventional painted designs and the recent craze for stencil graffiti, these new works are essentially a form of poster art. Smaller designs -- many of which are affixed to the back of roadside traffic signs -- are evidently monochrome photocopies, but several of the larger examples that have appeared in 2007 -- such as the 'cartoon' figures pictured below -- have been created using multiple sheets of photocopied paper, which have been coloured and then assembled into a complete design.

File:Growyrown1.jpg	File:Post-graf1.JPG
Poster graffiti, Gladstone St, Apr. 2007	Poster graffiti, south Newtown, Apr. 2007

Works no longer extant

Below: three vanished Newtown area murals -- "Idiot Box", Erskinville Rd (photographed November 2006), a Jimi Hendrix portrait in Camperdown Memorial Rest Park (photographed in July 2005) and a colourful Mayan-inspired mural (same location and date)

File:Marcia-mural.jpg		File:Maya3.JPG
"Idiot Box" (Andrew Aiken)	"Purple Haze" (artist unknown)	Maya-style mural (artist unknown)

A number of the larger-scale works of street art in the Newtown area have been removed or painted over in recent years. This includes several large murals believed to have been executed by the same artist/s in the early-mid 1990s, and formerly located along or near Erskineville Road.

For many years from a strip of land along both sides of this road, extending east from King St, was resumed by the NSW Department of Main Roads as part of a plan to build a large arterial road through the area. This scheme was eventually abandoned after the imposition of Green Bans by the Builders Labourers Federation, which effectively stopped all work on the planned road, although a number of shops and houses along the street were demolished in the 1970s and early 1980s. This struggle is now commemorated by Green Bans Park, located near the railway on Erskineville Rd, and established on land formerly occupied by buildings that were demolished to make way for the proposed road.

Prominent works of street art and large murals that are no longer extant include:

• The well-known and much-loved "Idiot Box" mural by Andrew Aiken was located on the side wall of a large terrace house at 64 Erskineville Road, opposite the renowned Imperial Hotel. It featured a surrealistic portrait of the TV character Marcia Brady from The Brady Bunch, brandishing an automatic pistol, and painted as if she is bursting through the shattering glass of a TV screen. The TV itself is painted in a trompe l'oeil effect, apparently breaking through the brick wall of the house on which the mural is painted. The power switch and power cord and plug of the TV were applied objects made from plastic. Regrettably, this remarkable mural, which had been in place since 1993, was removed by the new owners of the property in November/December 2006.

• the Felix the Cat and "Cat in the Hat" murals.; These images were painted on the sides of two houses near the intersection of Erskineville Road and Wilson St. These houses originally faced onto a council carpark that had been opened up by the demolition of the terrace that originally stood there. These murals were obscured by the construction of a large block of apartments on the site in the late 1990s. An image of the "Cat In The Hat" mural, taken by Ben Apfelbaum in 1990, can be viewed here

• the Miles Davis mural "On the wings of a song" by Andrew Aiken and Matthew Peet, was painted on the side of a house adjacent to the Mrs Mollie Swift Reserve on Erskineville Road. It depicted jazz musician Miles Davis playing his trumpet, with a rainbow and music notes flowing out from the bell of his instrument. This mural was erased/painted over in the early 2000s.

• a mural dedicated to John Coltrane, similar in style to the Miles Davis mural but much smaller in size, which was painted on the wall a now-defunct laundry business located on the corner of King St and Egan St. This mural was removed ca. 2002.

See also

• Newtown, NSW
• Graffiti
• Types of graffiti
• List of graffiti artists
• Category:Graffiti artists
• Graffiti terminology
• Zoo York
• Freedom Tunnel (Manhattan)
• Spray paint art
• 12oz Prophet - an online graffiti-related magazine
• Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure

External links

• ActNow - Newtown Graffiti
• Graffiti in the Inner City
• Graffiti mural in Linthorpe St Newtown, 2003
• Photographer Tom Balks - images of Newtown graffiti murals
• Newtown Flicks - Graffiti Flicks
• Poster Graffiti