This is a follow up to my entry on Legal Street Art in Brunswick. This is mostly because some fresh legal street art has been painted since I wrote that entry specifically in the area of Anstey Station on the Upfield line. The area around Anstey is factories, warehouses, shops, a fruit and vegetable market and new multi-story apartments. There are a lot of rubbish, tags and spray painted political slogans on walls and fences in the area but again none on any of the legal street art.
Fishing Tackle Clearance Centre
The Fishing Tackle Clearance Centre has had legal street art on it for years. Its walls face onto the Anstey station railway platform. Last weekend it was repainted with 6 new pieces with a more nautical theme, more fish, fishermen and an octopus on the roller door. The first legal graffiti work had been there for about a decade and the colours had faded.
696
Last weekend a different crew painted the sidewall of 696 (Sirum, Reals, Scale, Kirpy, Happy and Lady). The repainting was part of the celebration their second anniversary. The work combines a few different techniques including brush painting by Aida Sabie and some superb stencils. The whole piece has a strong unified palette of black, grey, white with yellow and orange highlights. Further down the alleyway Pav has stapled a sample of his silk-screened posters to the fence.
Office Cafe
Across Sydney Road, on the sidewall of 646 Office Café, is large piece by Fly, F1 and THD. It is several years old now but still looking good and undamaged by tags. And further down Florence Street is the piece on the side of a house with Ganesa in it, again undamaged.
Ganesa of Florence St. Brunswick
I don’t want to suggest that these paintings are great art, mostly they are colour and design, but they do brighten up and enliven the neighbourhood. And so for that community spirit, the business and individuals who have allowed this to happen aught to be supported and commended. It is much better than advertising posters.
Also in the Anstey area of Brunswick there is an alternative art exhibition space in the window of the Edinburgh Castle Hotel’s display window. This small display window is an excellent exhibition space, with two back mirrors adding the illusion of depth. The back wall is a canvas blind and does not appear to be strong enough to hang anything on. The window it is located near a tram stop on Sydney Rd. so it seen by lots of people. Belinda Wiltshire installation in the window features the paper figures and set for the music video of Lamplight’s song “Ship in a Bottle” (The video can be seen in the background of Lamplight’s live performance but there must be a complete one out there). Wiltshire’s installation works by itself, as a colourful and engaging diorama was perfect for both the space and audience on the street. The second exhibition that I’ve seen in this window is light boxes with negative photographic images by an unnamed artist. Unfortunately these light boxes had been designed to be hung on a wall don’t work in this window.
Black Mark 