Naked City: PORTRAITS OF THE CROSS

When artist Jenna YoNa Bloom first arrived in Australia from her native South Africa in 1987, one of the first places she stayed was Sydney’s Kings Cross. She was just a young child at the time and the memories are now distant but she still recalls a positive impression of the bustling and vibrant neighbourhood. Not surprisingly as an adult, she was back working in the area at the Wayside Chapel as a community worker in the early 2000s and has been a resident there for the past five years.

Her passion and enthusiasm for the precinct are immediate, but come with a warning as she discusses the reasons behind her current exhibition ‘Colourful X’.

“What I absolutely love about Kings Cross is that it’s inclusive. The community is made up of people from all walks of life. Any lifestyle goes and nobody is judgmental, but I am concerned that within a blink of an eye it could all disappear.”

Like many who observe the rampant gentrification of the area, Jenna is worried that the area is losing many of the great characters and personalities who have helped define the community in recent decades.

With the Colourful X exhibition, Jenna has set out to document some of KC’s most recognisable identities, each portrayed in large and very engaging stencil and spray paint portraits. In some ways, it’s homage to the bohemian past but also recognition of a culture that still survives despite all the negativity often associated with KC. As Jenna notes:

“Kings Cross became known for its bohemian nature in the early 1900s when the area became a haven for artists, musicians, writers, actors and a more unconventional lifestyle. Remnants of that unique identity are still here in 2015, so let’s shift the focus to acknowledge the beauty that exists, the community, the history, the culture and colour.”

The portraits include author and long time observer of the Cross Louis Nowra, former Les Girls dancer Ayesha Kazan, striptease dancer Elizabeth Burton and Tap Gallery director Lesley Dimmick; just some of the people you might have encountered at the Piccolo Bar in Roslyn Street over the past three to four decades. Naturally, the Piccolo’s ebullient proprietor Vittorio Bianchi is part of the exhibition, hot on the heels of his own biographical theatre show “Piccolo Tales” at the same venue.

One of the most familiar faces on Darlinghurst Road in recent years was Kings Cross biker Randall Nelson, who sadly passed away last year. Known to everybody as ‘Animal’, there was seldom a day when his colourful bike was not parked somewhere along the strip. His inclusion in the exhibition is of course a given.

Whilst not as prolific during daytime hours, John Ibrahim is synonymous with the Cross’s current nightclub culture and is the subject of one of the exhibition’s most striking portraits. Likewise long time denizen of the hood, musician Continental Robert Susz is another seldom sighted during daylight hours but a long time regular around the live music bars, clubs and late night takeaways.

You can check out the Colourful X exhibition at the GKJE Gallery at level two of the Mercure Hotel at 226 Victoria Street in Potts Point through until April 28.