More and more street art is taking on a commercial, mainstream appeal. It has become the branding of all the cool street labels, the design fodder for thousands of disposable t-shirts, even the iconography splashed across the tops of hundreds of hi-tops. But for all the plastic pop cult products it covers, street art is making a bold crusade off the street, heading straight into the commercial market space itself. Original works are not only more available from many clothing and art shops, but also more and more shops are actually using street art to decorate their retail space.
Point in case is the newly refurbished Basement youth clothing section of Myer, in particular the one located in the city. This ground floor area has been revamped – made more street as it were – through the use of huge scale pieces and murals spray painted directly onto the vertical support structures of this catacomb of cool. It’s unfortunate that Myer actually flew in a crew from Melbourne for this job. However, they did manage to save some face when they hired local artists like Creepy to spray live during a mega launch of Basement up in the Forrest Chase, the whole event showcasing both local bands and local graffiti artists.
In Claremont, One Teaspoon have commissioned Twenty Eleven to produce a series of in-store display props for them. The first of these is a highly stylised floating bench, located in the centre of this women’s clothing store. Originally an old discarded home unit, Twenty Eleven has recreated this found object to create a bright, intense moment of commercial art within the shop. Through stencilling and the use of Twenty Eleven’s thin illustrative style, the piece is inscribed with profile shots of beautiful women, quirky caricatures and quotes stolen from high school love notes.
Elsewhere, the presence of street art within a commercial space is far more discrete but just as effective. Milk’d on Angove Street in North Perth is a super stylish hub of the social set. Its bold interior design is perhaps its greatest asset, although tucked away at the back of this café is a piece of street art many would pay thousands for if it were for sale in a gallery: a piece by local legend of the spray can, Stormie, rendered in gentle pastels, of his trademark amorphic and dream-like melancholic characters. It instantly adds an interesting dynamic to what would otherwise be a bold lifeless space: the back alcove suddenly becomes an engaging area, one filled with the detached playful intrigue inherent in Stormie’s work. The fact that the work is painted on to the wall – as opposed to other similar framed pieces you’ll find in such boutique spaces as Gingers on Murray Street – lends Milk’d far more street appeal than many other cafes.
It seems that street art’s current invasion of cool isn’t set to slow down anytime soon. In fact, our love affair with this art form is only sure to grow. This is especially being proven as street art comes out from the street and into our commercial and living areas, not as a framed piece, but as something we actually accept whole heartedly right there on our walls, floors and work spaces.
