Street art up for auction

The works of four renowned street artists are set to go on auction next
week to raise funds for the Information and Cultural Exchange which promotes
community creativity and empowerment in western Sydney.

The street artists Vexta, E.L.K., Reka, and HAHA will each be auctioning one of
their pieces on 22 March in the foyer of Cleland Bond building in The Rocks.

The auction is part of the Project Five urban arts initiative, which included a
live art event at the The Rocks Square last weekend, where the works to be
auctioned were created.

This is the fourth iteration of Project Five, which dates back to 2009.
Anne Phillips, Head of Art and Books at Bay East Auctions, said the auction is
likely to be an informal affair.

“We’re not assuming that everyone who comes to the auction is really
familiar with the auction process,” she said.

Ms Phillips said around 100 to 120 people attended last year’s auction, but
expects increased numbers with the success of the 2011 Outpost street arts
event on Cockatoo Island.

The previous three auctions together raised more than $40,000, and the 2009
auction was the fi rst ever auction of street art in Australia.

Regan Tamanui, aka HAHA, said urban art is where art is taken to the
streets, and incorporates several painting techniques such as stencils, spray-paint,
paste-ups, stickers, and installation art.

Vexta, who incorporates stencils, paste-ups and spray-cans to create
neon-soaked works, admitted the auction process is a daunting one.

“It’s always a bit stressful as an artist having your work auctioned, because you
just don’t know what’s going to happen… you don’t know if people are going to bid
a lot of money or a small amount.

“You’re sitting there and there’s a few hundred people are deciding what you’ve
made what that’s worth to them.”

“If you’re doing something for charity then you want to raise money for
particular groups. You want to raise a decent amount of money.”

Project Five is symptomatic of a growing Australian street art scene.

“It’s an emerging and growing market… It’s fresh, it’s new, it’s different,”
Ms Phillips said.

She added that street art attracts people previously uninterested in art.
“There are dedicated collectors of mainstream art who also buy street art,
but I think it also brings in people who probably would never have thought of
collecting art before.”

HAHA and Vexta are both happy with the current scene’s status.

“I reckon it’s world-class. There’s a lot of Australian street artists who exhibit overseas
and are quite well known,” HAHA said.