THIS week Bunbury residents and visitors alike can rediscover the city when artists from across the globe create murals in the CBD.
Re.Discover is an annual walking street arts festival in Bunbury created by local artist Andrew Frazer.
Mr Frazer’s vision came to life in 2014 when he succeeded in creating an event where people could engage in art and enjoy the city.
“This is a chance for people who have lived here their whole life to rediscover where they live and what the CBD has to offer – like the initiatives run by amazing individuals,” Mr Frazer said.
There will be 14 street artists, the popular walking tour, an arts market and a Q and A session with the artists.
Re.Discover 2016 confirmed artists:
Askew One (NZ), Seth Globe-painter (FRA), Rone (Vic), Gemma O’Brien (Vic), Hayley Welsh (WA), Phibs (NSW), Beastman (NSW), Anya Brock (WA), Gimiks Born (QLD), Chris Nixon (WA), Ian Mutch (WA), Vans the Omega (SA), Elliott Numskull (NSW), Jackson Harvey (WA).
Saturday, January 9: a furniture workshop at the In-town Centre with Andrew Christie.
Wednesday, January 13: painting all day, a colouring in competition and the Re-Discover pop up shop.
Thursday, January 14: Painting, colouring in competition and the Re-Discover pop up shop continues and an artist Q and A
Friday, January 15: Painting, colouring in competition and a Re-Discover pop up shop continues and a lane-way Jam Wall and Arts Market.
Saturday, January 16: Walking tours to see murals which are completed and to hear a little bit about each artist. A group exhibition and after party will be held at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries.
Go to sixtwothreezero.com for more information or to book tickets.
ANYA Brock
RE.Discover 2016 will welcome back Perth-based artist Anya Brock who painted a wall mural in the inaugural Re.Discover walking street arts festival.
For Re.Discover 2016, Ms Brock said she will paint something with a bird theme but will leave it until the day to see how she is feeling for it to form a full concept.
“I’m quite internal with my inspiration, I don’t find literal ways, instead I’m much more autobiographical and I pull from internal experiences,” Brock said.
“I come from a design point of view, where I will look at a space and if it feels right then I will work within that.”
Brock will paint on two sides of the Graham Bricknell Music Shell and was looking forward to seeing how the festival has progressed over the past year.
She is using Bunbury as her “getaway” and is looking forward to mingling with the artists and the community.
CHRIS Nixon
HE helped out last year at Re.Discover and has returned this year to paint a five and a half metre high limestone wall near the Bunbury Library.
He said the unique shape of the building would mean the design would be site specific.
“I will start by giving it a nice base coat – it’s going to need that because the limestone will absorb some of it,” Nixon said.
“I will approach it to use the wall to dictate the design, I don’t want it just to be a design that is thrown on to that.
“It needs to reflect Bunbury and the South West, which ties in well with the work I usually do.”
People can expect to see the mural form waves and patterns and incorporate natural elements, using brushes to apply acrylic paint because he can get stronger lines.
HAYLEY Welsh
UK artist Welsh has joined the line-up of artists for the walking street arts festival.
Her latest project was an open studio show in East Victoria Park which lent itself to a secret location unveiled 24 hours before the event.
For Re.Discover, Ms Welsh will be painting an eight-metre long and four-metre high wall down the alley way next to the Salvation Army shop on Victoria Street.
Every drawing and concept she creates is designed for the building and the location.
For each drawing Ms Welsh said it was important there was a message behind it.
“I am going to be thinking about what the Salvation Army are about and when I was researching and thinking about it I thought, what we really need is freedom,” she said.
“What the Salvation Army give to people is independence and freedom to do their own thing, so that is what the piece is going to be about.
“It is based on the concept that all we really need is to be free.”
The drawing will incorporate some creatures which are based on different animals but they are not anything specific, they are about evoking a human connection, she said.
Ms Welsh hopes the creatures will create a conversation and explore how people see the same picture differently.
“I like the idea of giving the adults a chance to break down their questioning and appreciate the emotion and try and connect with it,” she said. “The design may change once I get down to Bunbury.”
IAN Mutch
DUNSBOROUGH based artist Ian Mutch will add colour to Bunbury and bring the community together to enjoy art as a collective for Re.Discover 2016.
Mutch said his style of art represented the South West because the nature aspect of the environment heavily influenced his work.
The site next to Trafalgars Pub located at 36 Victoria Street, Bunbury will be where Mutch will design and paint a mural.
“I have sketched out the site with dimensions and I am just looking to work on a concept which suits the site,” he said.
“The wall is my canvas and what I put on there is dependent on the environment around it, so things like different angles and doors need to be taken into account.”
Mutch creates a narrative in his work so people can find the story and enjoy it, he aims to entertain and amuse.
Not only is nature a big influence for his work but the extensive travel he has done for work and pleasure inspires him to see and experience more to enhance his art work.
“Travel is important to me whether that’s within Australia or internationally and just to see other cultures and stories you might hear and that sometimes makes it into my work,” he said.
For Re.Discover next year he is most looking forward to getting to know the other artists and show what Bunbury has to offer.
The other side of his work is in the commercial field where he does illustrations and logos for businesses.
JACKSON Harvey
SOUTH West artist Jackson Harvey is bringing enthusiasm and art which people can appreciate to Bunbury’s 2016 walking street arts festival Re.Discover.
Harvey has produced work in Perth and London and he is excited to be part of Re.Discover for the first time.
He currently is a tattoo artist at Southwest Tattoo, Bunbury and last year worked as a tattoo artist in London.
He grew up in Perth and has been commissioned for numerous public murals for clients at small bars, cafes and councils in Perth.
He said street art was a very important part of a city and he could see the impact the festival has had on Bunbury.
“Bunbury could benefit from expressing its character through the public aspect of more street art,” he said.
“The public don’t have a choice if they see it or not because it is on the street and it can be polarising because it takes away the democratic aspect of it – it’s not in a gallery or exhibition.
“I would like to see Bunbury get known for its street art because it can really build a sense of character in the city.”
ELLIOTT 'Numskull' Routledge
ROUTLEDGE is an Australian based contemporary artist, working out of Sydney in a variety of fields and mediums including painting, sculpture, illustration and large scale murals.
In the last 15 years Elliott has been showing his work and creating public murals wherever he travels.
From the early part of his career, his education came from graffiti and street art and he continues to practice in and out of these rebellious fields, while also focusing his energy on gallery work.
Now showing constantly in galleries and publications throughout the world, his painting style has evolved from simple street work to complex, technical and reactive mixed media paintings and sculpture.
His unique imagery has become a collage of study focussing on colour hierarchy, typography, abstract heroism and idolism within modern contemporary culture.
He has shown in galleries, painted walls and sold paintings throughout the world in such places as London, Vienna, New York, Melbourne, Tokyo, Paris, Singapore, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and all over Australia.
