Bryon Bay & surrounds

One of the best pieces I've seen this year. The incorporation of  bold bright colours with the faded fills of a writers hurdle to gain access-the fence 

The water tank at Bryon, more to come from here, watch this space

 

The New York connection Claw, PMS crew

Claudia Gold better known as Claw graffiti artist from New York in the 1980's. She's one of world's most well-known graffiti writers with the iconic claw. Symbolising strength Claw started the PMS graffiti crew-stands for Power, Money, Sex or Painting Mad Spots etc. In counter-culture of graffiti Claw shows a strong presence in a male dominated sport. One of the early pioneering women alongside other artists of that era like Lady Pink. Both grew up on the ethos of painting trains, seen as the penultimate prized spot for getting up. Alongside other artists including Utah both Lady Pink and Claw appear in Girl Power a 2016 movie featuring women in graffiti in solidarity with artists across the world including Australia.  

Here Claw arrives in Melbourne for a solo show in regional Warrnambool exhibition until 16th of March 2025. 

As she's gained notoriety Claw has taken her art to become a fashion icon. Traversing the artworld from the streets into stores and producing artwork for many brands. Ironic that a brand she developed originally for the streets becomes the brand the businesses want to buy a piece of for their pie. For some in graffiti that's sell-out. For many, graffiti stays and lives on the streets and can't be bought or sold. But here Claw shows us, a path of natural evolution carved that works for her. Whether a story of selling out or success of making it, you be the judge. Regardless of your opinion, she undoubtedly left a mark and transformed and trailblazed a space for women in a hypermasculine scene.    

Fitzroy mural

When the New York trains were painted inside and out Lady Pink

The Tassie connection

The lawns are mown

 

Full Time Pork

The most productive of graffiti artists develop a sense of branding similar but different to advertising. This branding could potentially mean everything to the graffiti subculture and nothing to broader public. But some artists traverse this space. The most recent addition to capture the attention of the media was Pam the Bird. Simple yet effective long bird that has gradually appeared sprinkled across Melbourne usually at height and often in iconic places including the entry to the West Gate Bridge. 

Similarly Pork an artist from Auckland New Zealand has crossed the divide between the inconspicuous underworld of graffiti and the public mainstream. His style was public, legible, highly visible and is found throughout the city streets. Whilst Melbourne has seen many big name international artists from abroad like  Revok, 1UP crew, dynamic duo Utah and Ether, and many more. Pork was on another level literally and figuratively. He was able to do what all other visitors haven't and that's leave a cultural legacy on the Melbourne streets. This includes setting an even higher bar. Arguably some have reached bar but all of those people are locals. For Porke getting up is the objective with style taking a backseat. Many in the graffiti world have there own opinions but few can say that had a lasting impact on the Graffiti scene in Melbourne let alone the Southern Hemisphere as what Porke has done.       

Pork-All Those Shapes

@Pork 

Full Time Pork

A collection of artwork below

The Adelaide connection

Tense piece representing old school graffiti crew 73A with shout outs with local Crime Wave crew in Brunswick.  

YouTube video

Brunswick walls

Brunswick trackside walls are hot property in Melbourne. Its a balancing act of don't cap what you can't burn or try finding a new wall or if there's no wall space go up. Multi-storey graffiti is a sign of healthy and thriving graffiti scene. Its good to track change. Brunswick like most inner-city places has gone through a huge change in the last 10, 20, 30 years. Even since the 2013 visit I noticed lots has changed. More built up, more green space and graffiti is flourishing. 

2013

The roll-up days of Ha ha and Sync. Ha ha featured in the Melbourne street art documentary Rash from 2005. Ha Ha was Melbourne's answer to Banksy. His passion and productivity for street art, was hugely influential. In contrast to his big bold roll-ups along train lines his main icon was his stencil work. Without artists like him its hard to imagine what the stencil scene would have been. In 2005 the stencil graffiti capital book was released. This boom in street art lead to laneways dedicated to stencil work like Canada Lane Carlton and Blender Lane in Melbourne. Interview with Ha Ha. We all but lost Canada Lane, fortunately it was immortalised somewhat in the book Uncommissioned Art an A to Z of Australian Graffiti. More on that later.  

2024

Golfa appearing seemingly everywhere.

2013 Artists below

Retayner

Bailer

Bailer and Retayner famously put Melbourne on the map with their album Hedge Burners. Over Spray stands strong as one of Melbourne's best graffiti themed hip hop songs released in 2012. These two artists traversed the medium of lyrical abilities back to back with visual artforms. They've done it beyond most artists lifetime dreams. On one hand Retayner has released burners on walls across Melbourne and united the Oz hip hop scene to bring together to bring best unrivalled cyphers. Bailer's book Wall Stories was published, showcasing a comprehensive take on the Melbourne graffiti scene. Probably the biggest Melbourne graffiti book since the likes of Kings Way. Publishing anything on this scale in the graffiti scene is fraught with challenges where the legality of artwork can make writers run the other way. Between them a solid combination that's influenced the likes of many Melbourne and Australian artists.

2013

2024

To go back to the same walls 10 years later and see the same artists holding the yard, what a sight to behold. Especially in a trackside environment where the space is premium. Resume and Bailer piece holding ground. The new emergent generation pieces above of Kewl and Cola. There's consistently and increasingly a range of artists that get the highest and best spots, includes the likes of Uzi, Cola, World, Smel, Getting Up, Golfa and of course Nost and even Porke from New Zealand was notorious for it.