Murals by Max

Max Elbourne is a signwriter who comes from a family of artists: his mum was an artist, his dad was a letterer who worked with traditional printed newspapers. Elbourne thinks signwriting is a good job for someone who likes art; he also does the occasional mural. The way he talks about it, you would never guess that Elbourne is responsible for some extremely impressive wall art around the city. In fact, he has been asked to put in a submission for the Sulman Prize this year for his mural work in the courtyard of The Grand Electric Theatre in Surry Hills. 

“This is in a courtyard where nobody else gets to see, the public don’t get to see it, you know, and if it gets around a bit more it’ll be seen more, and promoting hand-painted signs and murals – that’s what we wanna do, you know,” says Elbourne matter-of-factly.

Around seven years ago, Elbourne started working with Opera Australia painting scenery, backdrops and props. He is currently also working on designs and artwork at Luna Park with resident artist, Ashley Taylor, as well as painting various props at Taronga Zoo. 

When Scott Maidment, owner of The Grand Electric, was in the process of refurbishing it, he called Lacey Malice, a highly sought-after scenic artist and prop painter working in theatre and film. However she had just got a gig on the upcoming The Fall Guy film and recommended Elbourne. (Malice later came back to do the final ageing on the murals as that’s her expertise.)

At first, Elbourne and the designer, James Brown, seemed to have difficulty understanding each other’s visions.  

“We got together and worked it out and decided on Art Deco, Art Nouveau – stuff of that age. Keep it all in a theatrical theme with an emphasis on champagne,” says Elbourne. “That building is the old railway union building…so one of the signs on the big wall is the actual motif of the union, which is on the front of the building on Cleveland Street – they’ve still got this big steel sign up there. Scott wanted to keep that in the story.”

It meant he could draw beautiful old cars and trains, and also a giant cruise ship. 

“The idea of the cruise ship is because they [Strut & Fret, Maidment’s theatre group] do cruise shows on giant cruising boats.”

Elbourne has also included subtle references to a number of other shows by the company.

Other images are based on classic old French, Italian and Australian advertisements and theatre and film history. On one high wall is the iconic rocket in the moon’s eye from A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune), the 1902 French short film directed by Georges Méliès.

There is also a painting of a cockatoo inspired by a remarkable story. The painting is a copy of a drawing found in a 13th century manuscript which resides in the Vatican library. The drawing, in turn, was rendered by a bird-living artist who was gifted the “white parrot” by an Egyptian sultan, suggesting that trade routes at the time must have passed across the top of Australia.

The courtyard is quite a small tight area with varied surfaces, so it wasn’t an easy task. Elbourne’s son, Jimmy helped out, and Lacey Malice, as mentioned, did all the distress work. Rachel Hallet from Opera Australia also lent a hand. 

“Scott was amazing to work for in that he gave me the freedom, but also he helped me the whole time, whatever I needed he just got for me,” says Elbourne, ensuring he credits everyone involved. 

“Don’t forget my wife [Kathe Payne] – she did all the research.”

The Grand Electric is at 199 Cleveland St, Surry Hills. Elbourne’s murals are in the courtyard.