"Aerosol is a medium like any other, valid and there as a vehicle to express oneself, whether that be through realism, expressionism, cubism, or whatever the artists chooses. As long as aerosol and graffiti are used to pigeon-hole and keep legitimate artists down, I will keep blowing your minds." Omen
MAY'S: The May Lane Street Art Project is a survey of the artworks created at May Lane between 2005 and 2010 by celebrated Australian and international street artists. The works in the exhibition give a comprehensive overview of what is happening nationally and internationally in street art. The works span a broad range of street art styles: New York graffiti, spray paint, paste ups, stencils and sculpture.
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery developed MAY'S: The May Lane Street Art Project in conjunction with the May Lane Arts Association Inc., an incorporated not for profit organisation. The May's Lane Project is an outdoor gallery space located in St Peters in Sydney's inner west. It's Director, Tugi Balog, a local businessman who turned the exterior walls of his business premises into a site-specific gallery for street artists, has been documenting the May Lane Street Art Project since its inception in 2004. As a result, May's has a collection of over 100 panels spanning the life of the project and incorporating all the artists who have created work in May Lane.
MAY'S: The May Lane Street Art Project focuses on the artistic merit of the work, and the high calibre of the artists. The history and evolution of the international and Australian street art movement will be explored. Bringing street art into a gallery is paradoxical in that it takes the artwork away from its intended context, but it also serves to educate and inform by making it accessible to wide variety of audiences. The exhibition seeks to ask questions about high art and street art and explore issues that arise from this juncture.
This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural material across Australia.
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