Humourous, captivating, sometimes disturbing, and heavily engaged urban frescoes adorn the walls of cities worldwide. Street art covers almost every nook and cranny of our creative and colourful region (mainly Melbourne, but we have our few special go-to spots), and checking out every little bit of these vibrant artworks is one of our favourite things to do when pounding the pavement.
If you’re a fan of exploring the creative side of street art, but maybe don’t have enough time to venture across the countryside, The V I V I D C O L O U R Exhibition is just for you!
Curated by Newtown fine art studio Bells Fine Art, the exhibition is showcasing the talents of street and mural artists for the first time in a gallery setting.
The free exhibition (currently at Geelong Arts Centre until December 13, before moving to Torquay at the end of the month), features 21 works from three local and interstate artists, who usually paint on walls and on street corners but have cleverly converted their work into a gallery setting.
In curating this exhibition, the team at Bells Fine Art has selected artists not only for their talent and their impressive use of colour, but mainly to support artists who have experienced hardship to overcome challenges and have been inspired by the dramatic impacts of their upbringing.
“Bells Fine Art is a socially-conscious art studio and we are committed to supporting artists who have been impacted by poverty or family violence or have a significant social or political opinion that influences their work,” curator Belinda White explains.
Silly Sullys (@sillysullys on Insta) is an impressive and well-known Melbourne and Geelong street artist, who uses neon aerosols to create dynamic imagery using animals, mainly husky and dingos as his muses. Sully was impacted by childhood poverty, abuse, and family breakdown and has overcome this to become an impressive street and mural artist in his own right. He has a newly finished work, the face of a werewolf that is situated at the Malthouse in Geelong.
Joining Sully’s works in the exhibition, Brian Connolly (@brianconnollyart) will draw you in with the most whimsical and beautiful art that sends a message of hope to save our vulnerable mother earth. The Melbourne-born, Byron Bay artist is deeply inspired by nature and is adept at capturing important topics such as the impacts of climate change, protecting our natural world and the mental health campaign “Are you Okay?”.
“My works are greatly influenced by the impact that the fast pace of society places on every individual,” Connolly says. “Climate change, natural disasters and the fires that are currently raging in the area I live in, just exemplifies the purpose and message in my works. My work is designed to connect people back to the earth and the life-source that feeds us every day, and to remind us just how vulnerable mother nature is.”
Rounding out the huge lineup of talent is local pop culture artist Luke Elphick (@lukeelphickart) who will be on show demonstrating his brilliant use of colour and dynamic interpretation of art through the pop culture lens. The best part about Luke’s take on art is that he likes to add humour into it, by turning regular and mundane items into something exciting and a little bit cheeky. It’s relatable, super clever and we absolutely love it.
The V I V I D C O L O U R Exhibition will run until December 13 at the Geelong Arts Centre and from December 27 2019 – January 26 2020 at the Torquay Town Centre.
