On the 24 February 2016, I headed with fellow art appreciators on a  graffiti  tour through Newtown & Enmore. The tour was hosted by the amazing Cultural Scouts, who conduct cultural tours all over Sydney.
The tour started off in the back streets of Newtown near Young Henry’s Brewery, just one street away from Enmore Road. It lasted about 2 hours, winding through the back streets and lanes of Enmore and Newtown – streets that I did not know even existed!

The amount of talent in the backstreets was just incredible: the streets are filled with murals, tags, pieces, paste ups, stencils and sculptures. Though there are so many intricate and impressive pieces, a few specific works caught my eye on the night.

The pieces that I found particularly interesting focused on a specific theme: one of interaction. That is, interaction between the art; interaction between the community; and, interaction with social issues.

The first was the interaction of between artists and their street art. In graffiti jargon, “Toy”means a novice graffiti artist. For example there was a stencil of Buzz Light Year with the tagline “Don’t play with Toys” written next to the stencil. This ‘conversation’ between  artist through pieces is common practice. Here we see the older artist showing the  younger artist that you need years of practice to be able to show status within the street art community. It is the younger artist starting their careers and attempting to increase their profile and this is just a response from the older artists – which appears as a  kind of initiation.

The second interaction that caught my eye was between the artists and the new houses being constructed in the area. The owners of the new houses acknowledged that street art is a fundamental characteristic in this community and have created spaces on the outside of their newly build houses to allow artists to come in and display their work. The owners have created an outdoor gallery supporting the street artists.

Thirdly, there is an interaction between artist, specifically  Fintan Magee, and social issues in the area. The artwork which is located on Enmore Road, is over three stories high and is of a woman straddling a man’s back, with her arms letting go of a house that is being taken away by helium balloons.

This appears to be a conversation with Sydney’s housing market and the issue of exclusion and affordability – where many young people are locked out of the housing market.

In addition to the aesthetic, it is such interactions and conversations which is why I love and support street art. It is an art form that crosses all boundaries and has the ability to make a statement as well creating a gallery which is accessible to everyone.