Sydney artists ambush George Street

By William Brougham

An exhibition showcasing the works of many of Sydney’s street artists has opened at the HSBC Tower Building on George Street.

The tower’s lobby and food court has been transformed into a show of urban art organised by the Waterloo-based Ambush Gallery.

The Places in Between exhibition follows last year’s In Full Bloom at the same site, and Ambush Gallery creator Bill Dimas says he hopes it will make art more accessible to the public.

“We hope it encourages CBD workers and residents, visitors and shoppers to engage with the works and to think about art, and our society in new ways,” he says.

Mr Dimas says there is more to street art than the common perception of graffiti or tagging.

“It is very much a mixed bag of lollies with different techniques used…some artists use stencils, others use acrylics and some artists create computer generated images for their works,” he says.

The Places in Between is one of Ambush Gallery’s initiatives to provide Australia artists platforms to showcase their work, out of a traditional gallery space.

Artists featured at the exhibition include Beastman, Ben Frost, Mini Graff and Shannon Crees.

Ms Crees says the show will allow the work of the artists to reach a new audience.

“The urban scene in Sydney is quite small so the HSBC foyer gives us a bigger audience with lots of people passing through,” she says.

Her own works are about what she sees as the sexualisation of the female form particularly in the media and in advertising.

The exhibition is on until September 30.