Street Art of Newtown

Newtown, in Sydney, has to be the capital of Australian street art. Or maybe I just notice it more because Newtown is close to where I live and I spent a lot of time there. And for good reason: it has a vibrant cafe and street-culture so it's a good place to go walking. And back streets and lane ways are where where the street art action is.

Parked cars, trees and signs are a problem when photographing
street art.

I'm a late convert to the world of street art I think because it comes from dark places that I'm only dimly aware of: the culture of action graphic novels ("comic books" if you're over forty) and the internet blog-playgrounds of budding teenage fantasy artists.

Whether it's original or lifted from a graphic novel
street art can pack a punch.

Most of the images are lost on me but I guess it's the same with a lot of art. I'm for look and like---or not like. Life's too short to try to psycho-analyse artists.

Nefrititi is thinking something. I can make out a backwards 3, a 4 and a 2.

Still, you have to be impressed by some of the techniques. Of course they're not all Renaissance frescoes.

He's hot.

I do tend to like the spare images that don't cover everything and scream at you and which sometimes make use of a natural feature such as a crack in a wall or a window or a drainpipe.

This is a piece of a larger work. The message in the bottle in very poignant:
"Dear Tanja, I'm smiling across stormy waters to be..."

I'm not as fond of walls with a name or word emblazoned on it in gigantic, shaded saw-tooth letters, no matter how expertly they're been painted even if I can make out what they say. They're just super-size tagging.

This is also just a piece of a larger work that looks like an
illustration of a dystopian world from a fantasy novel.

I live in a house that has a big side wall on the street, ideally suited for street art, but I admit that I try to keep it just the way it is. When it does get tagged---and it does-- I'm out there quick-smart with a bucket of paint to paint it out.

If you know who this guy is, please leave me a comment.

The City of Sydney has an Aerosol Art and Graffiti Policy and crews that paint out unwanted graffiti. They must have a lot of paint on hand because they're pretty good at matching any wall colour. They do try to determine whether what they're about to paint over qualified as artwork so the "best" works remain for us lane-crawler street art voyeurs.

See pequevrs.blogspot.com for more art by this artist.

Some of these artworks are commissioned and done with the permission of the owners of the walls but others just magically appear. Garage roller doors are favourite places for the latter.

Stencil have the advantage of being quick.

Stencils are good for commando raids but they're not all as clever as Banksy.

It's sad to see a work like this tagged by every teenager carrying
a Sharpie or a Copic Marker.

There are times when I wish I knew the story.

This is only half of a larger work.

Once again, I couldn't get the whole image because of parked cars.

Finally, a reference that I recognise.

For more Newtown Street art images, click here.