Freehand wall drawing

I was diverted by this freehand drawing on a wall of a lane off Gertrude Street recently.

I was struck by how rarely you see a freehand drawing on a wall, as opposed to the kind of rarified, cultish typography that usually constitutes ‘graffiti art’, at least in Melbourne.

It isn’t rare elsewhere, though. Thanks to the Wooster Collective website, I see that everyone is not a wannabe rapper, least of all in Europe, where stunning public art of an original and even provincial kind is being made.

This is by David de la Mano.

This is by the Canadian artist OTHER.

Banksy’s easel

Trying to encapsulate why I think Banksy is important, I couldn’t do better than this little contribution. Hilarious and – I hesitate to say it but it’s true – profound. It is called ‘Blue Period’.

Whenever I come across another article in my local media calling for hanging to be reintroduced to deal with ‘vandals’, I understand the underlying concern with property damage, illegality and so on, but I think “And yet, and yet…”.

This is nothing less than a redefinition of the concept of public art. Illegal most of it may be, but it is public art nevertheless. The best of it, at least. Is it right to condemn a medium because of its worst manifestations rather than its best?

More of his work can be found at Wooster Collective.