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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jan/07/giant-colouring-book-how-money-and-paint-mix-in-melbournes-street-art-scene>
"Of the many reasons to visit Melbourne, the city’s street art is pretty high.
Hosier Lane, a constantly evolving graffiti and paint-covered laneway in the
CBD, has become a common background in Instagram posts from visitors around the
world.
But for all the colourful portraits, characters, abstract designs,
anti-capitalist stencils and tags on display around the city, you’re also
likely to spot government-commissioned murals, or walls spruiking well-known
brands.
“A lot of us make a living off of murals,” says Adrian Doyle, the director of
the Blender Studios, one of the oldest street art studios in Melbourne.
Doyle says he doesn’t regard the work his studio does as advertising.
“These days all the murals that we do tend to be commissioned either by
corporations or councils. It’s not dissimilar to what it would have been in the
1600s and 1700s in Florence, where it was the rich people getting artists to
paint their families, or churches.”
“[Street art] is not the youth movement that it once was. A lot of fine artists
have come in, and people are starting to realise there’s big money in murals.”
“All the guys who originally set up the scene, luckily they are all still
making art and most of them are making a living off it, which is pretty
awesome.”"
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*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
