Wendy Murray, Gone Bananas, 2020, 137 x 114 in / 350 x 290 cm. Painted in Sydney, AUS
Wendy Murray was a recipient of one of the City of Sydney Covid-19 relief grants, the Creative Fellowship Grant (A$18,500). Her work The New Views Poster Project @newviewsposters will see Murray guide eight artists through the process of creating large site-specific posters for the windows of vacant, closed or partially operating businesses on King Street in Newtown. Each New Views Poster will be handmade using traditional poster making methods – paint, stencils and drawing. Collaborative artists include Tina Havelock Stevens, Jackson Farley, Molly Wagner, Sarah Edmondson, Toby Zoates, Thea Perkins, and ZAP.
Wendy Murray, Gone Bananas poster development
Murray says many artists have lost access to their studios or can’t afford to rent them, so the project is making use of tiled methods rather than large single posters. She says this lack of access to workspaces is just one of the profound ways she and her peers have been impacted by the lockdown. “As an artist and educator, my practice centres on building connections with people, so the impact of Covid-19 on my work has been devastating. Classes, exhibitions and residencies were all cancelled. “Seeing my colleagues and networks in the creative sector suffer in the same way inspired me to design an innovative way to maintain our arts practice.” King Street is also home to the site of the Tin Sheds Art Collective. From the 1970s, Tin Sheds, just down the road, at from the University of Sydney, was the originator of some of Australia’s most renowned and original political poster art.
Black Lives Matter - Always Have, Always Will by Thea Perkins. King Street on Gadigal Land, Australia. Photo: Garry Trinh (Installed November 2020)
This Attempt Should Succeed. Poster by ZAP. 199 King Street, Newtown Sydney NSW AUS. Photo: Garry Trinh (Installed October 2020)
SPARK A REACTION
Spark A Reaction is a poster collaboration between Bundanon Trust, NSW South Coast community and Wendy Murray. The posters were created during a series of workshops held in Nowra in September 2020. Drawing inspiration from the handmade signs made during the last fire season - when communities messaged one another, the RFS and political leaders in public spaces - these workshops sparked this series of quick response posters. The Nowra poster workshops provided community members an opportunity to reflect upon the fires of 2019/20, their impact and how we might respond in the future. View the online exhibition here »
WENDY MURRAY | IN CONVERSATION
Sophie O’Brien, Head of Curatorial and Learning at Bundanon recently sat down with artist and poster maker Wendy Murray to chat about the importance of poster making, voicing opinions and wanting to change the world…. here »
