From 1-25 March, Project Five will present a special art exhibition - a retrospective to the previous three volumes and the artwork that was created by some of Australia's leading contemporary street artists. The exhibition will present a non-commercial print series of the 12 artworks created for Project Five at the Live Art Events by artists Anthony Lister, Kid Zoom, Ben Frost, Beastman, Ears, Meggs, Ghostpatrol, Shannon Crees, Deb, James Jirat-Patradoon, Phibs and WBYK (webuyyourkids). The artworks were auctioned at the Auction Event for Charity raising over $40,000.00 for Information and Cultural Exchange.
Paint will spill at Rocks Square at The Rocks to the tunes of Future Classic DJ's from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 March. Artists VEXTA, LUKE CORNISH (E.L.K.), JAMES REKA and REGAN TAMANUI (Haha) will paint live across the three days and Sydneysiders can experience a behind the scenes look into the artwork creation for the next instalment of Project Five. Rocks Square at The Rocks is set to transform into the largest open-air art studio with Future Classic DJ's Nathan McLay and James McInnes on the turntables in this free public art event.
New to the Project Five events is the Artist Talks. Hosted by Jess Scully, founding creative director of Creative Sydney, the artist talks is an opportunity to get up close and personal with the Project Five Volume Four artists VEXTA, LUKE CORNISH, JAMES REKA and REGAN TAMANUI. The discussion will also explore subjects such as the state of street art in Australia right now, the artists own body of work and personal experiences working in Australia and overseas and will present the new artworks created at the Live Art Events to be auctioned at the Auction Event for Charity on Thursday 22 March.
The final event of the Project Five Volume Four series that will auction the four artworks created at the Live Art Events by artists VEXTA, LUKE CORNISH (E.L.K.), JAMES REKA and REGAN TAMANUI (Haha). All proceeds from the auction will be donated to Information and Cultural Exchange to support creative youth programs in Western Sydney. Auctioneer Anne Phillips, Head of Art and Books at Bay East Auctions and proud ongoing supporter of Project Five, will lead the auction event.
Vexta, originally from Sydney has been creating street art since the mid 2000s, and is another of Melbourne's favourite street artists. Vexta's neon drenched street paintings, paste ups and stencils can be seen in and around the suburbs of Melbourne & Sydney. Questioning the world we live in, our relationship with the creatures around us and our very existence in the universe, her paintings are filled with carefully selected bright colours mixed with intricately cut stencils and lighten up any dark alleyway.
Vexta has travelled and painted around the world including Paris, Berlin, London, Sydney, Brisbane and Bogota. Her recent offsite show "Across Neon Lights" at Goodtime Studios presented by Blackartprojects in Melbourne was a beautiful showing of her renowned neon colour palette and detailed mix of painting and stencil print skills.
Luke Cornish, otherwise known as 'E.L.K.', is a self-taught stencil artist. Originally from Canberra, E.L.K. currently resides in Melbourne, where he has received critical acclaim for his photorealist stencil art.
In 2008, E.L.K.'s entry to the Melbourne Stencil Festival was voted the most popular piece of the show, and he was the winner of the 2010 Australian stencil art prize.
2011 saw E.L.K. go from strength to strength. In June, an E.L.K stencil graced the cover of Art Monthly Australia magazine, and in July the artist was voted a finalist in the 2011 Metro Gallery Art Award.
E.L.K.'s work has appeared in numerous group and solo shows throughout Australia and internationally.
James Reka is a young contemporary artist based in Melbourne, Australia. With influences in pop culture, cartoons and illustration, Reka creates his own world of mysterious creatures and characters that communicate though colour, movement and texture. Since 2002, Reka has established himself as a pioneer in Melbourne's burgeoning street art scene, painting in an abstracted surrealist style that has influenced the style of artists both nationally and internationally. His handiwork can be seen on both street and gallery walls from Melbourne's inner suburbs to high-rises in Japan. Reka's work has recently been acquisitioned by the National Gallery of Australia for their permanent collection, cementing his place as one of Australia's most respected contemporary street artists.
The work of Haha explores the power of mass media within Australian popular culture. The reality TV phenomena, the religion of sport, criminal lifestyles, get rich quick & instant fame becomes the obsessions, the new virtues of the 21st century. By using multi-layered stencils of up to 60 layers Haha's work is a reflection of popular culture. He gets his images direct from the newspaper or from photographing the subject to tell a story of the here & now. Without the aid of a computer, his cutting technique produces lifelike imagery. Haha is a self taught artist who started off by spray painting stencils on the street & has since then graduated to the gallery. He has been exhibiting for over 10 years he has held 18 solo shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Sydney & New Zealand. He is represented by 3 commercial galleries across Australia. His work can be found in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, BHP Billiton, State Library of Victoria, City of Melbourne, Artbank & private collections across Australia, NZ, UK & USA.
