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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

It's Sunday arvo and I’m watching a bunch of adults cut out patterns and paint figures. I’m not in a sheltered workshop, though. I’m with a group of street artists who are getting ready to tart up some ugly walls in Sydney’s inner-west.

Konsumterra, the oldest of the crew at 37, has been doing paste-ups since the late-’80’s in Adelaide. I ask the veteran if he’s ever had trouble with the cops. He tells me his mates have. "Actually, they got charged with possession; not anything with what we were doing."

Turning art into cash
Self-styled artists turning public walls into murals might shit pensioners and cause councils headaches, but graff artists can earn a crust from their skills. Pommy street artist and smartarse Banksy [see breakout], has become an international star with his stencils and stunts.
Mini Graff, an artist based in Darlinghurst, hasn’t reached that level yet. She does have a manager, though, and she’s been commissioned to do works in major shopping centres.
Despite spraying on public property with aerosol cans, Mini has always been comfortable adding her style to the cityscape. "To be honest, it didn’t occur to me that what I was doing was vandalism,” she says “A lot of my stencils were really small, in the gutter. I don’t feel I need to sneak around doing what I do."

Sydney graff veteran Gane is strictly cool for old-school
WITH more than 25 years experience, graffiti writer Gane appreciates the work stencil and paste-up artists do, but sees them as a far cry from the commitment to expression his work involves. “I don’t rate them in the same category as graffiti,” he says. “If coppers see someone putting up posters or stencils, they’re not even gonna be looked at twice.
“I've almost been killed numerous times doing graffiti. It’s a dangerous profession or hobby – being bashed, shot at and injured goes with the territory. Can you name any other form of art where you risk injury, death or incarceration?” he asks. I can’t.