Australian Street Art

A few years ago I spent some time in Newcastle, Australia, getting to know the city a bit more.  I had a lovely time exploring the area and taking the time to just wander the streets.

On one of these wanders, I came across a mural which had been painted on the side of a car park.

It took my breath away.  I was not expecting to come across something like this, particularly on the side of such a mundane building!

It was stunning.  I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it.  Once I had finished staring at it in wonder, I snapped a few shots on my phone before moving on.

I later discovered that there was a lot of street art dotted around the city, which I think was a result of a festival called ‘Hit The Bricks’. This festival invited big name artists to the city to paint its walls.  The results were pretty spectacular, but this particular mural was by far the most impressive of what I saw in my opinion.

Whenever I would see the photos after I returned, I would still be hit by a sense of awe.  I’m often unable to explain exactly what it is about some works of art that captivate me. There’s something in them which just tugs at my eyes and my brain, not letting me go, and this artwork was no exception.

I hadn’t looked at that photo for a while, but it was pushed to the forefront of my mind by a post from a fellow blogger.

Sam at Living! is currently adventuring his way around Australia and posted recently about the fantastic street art that you can find in Melbourne (and wow, are there some seriously great works in that city!!). In response to his followers, Sam did some digging and found out who some of the artists were…and I’m so glad he did!

Thanks to Sam, I discovered that the artist of this fantastic mural is known as Adnate.  Adnate is a successful Australian artist who has painted some spectacular works, particularly portraits of indigenous Australians, across the country.

I am ashamed to say that I didn’t give much thought to who might have painted this mural when I first saw it. However, its impact has stuck with me and I’m keen to explore more of his work.

I understand that Adnate unveiled a new piece of art in the city at the end of last year, but that another piece which was painted on a building has been demolished to make way for new apartments.

I’m not sure what has become of the mural above, but if it is no more, I am so glad that I got to take a peek of it when I did.  It was a very unexpected delight!

I love that these cities in Australia have embraced this art form and I will definitely be paying more attention to the art that is scattered around Newcastle the next time I visit.  I can’t wait to discover more of what’s out there!

If you’d like to see more of Adnate’s work check out @adnate

Does your city/town have a thriving street art scene? Tell me more in the comments below!