The power of street art

The evolution of a street mural. Supplied photos.

'Who the hell is it?”

‘Who' is a bearded face, concrete strong features and steely fixed stare, which is manifesting through a matrix fashioned on a blue three-storeyed wall in a service lane behind Grey Street.

'Wonder what his story is?” The questioner's an office worker, who has sneaked into the service lane behind Trustpower for a sly fag and he's asking the questions everyone who has seen the beginnings of this mural is asking.

The fagger is staring up at Fintan Magee, an Australian muralist, atop a scissor lift in the hot sun, 15 metres up the wall and getting about his craft of changing this pocket of the Tauranga cityscape with a paintbrush.

People watch and wonder. That's the power of street art. What they don't know, they imagine or make up. Exactly the way Fintan would have it. 'I kind of like the idea of sparking a bit of interest, a bit of a debate.”

The Paradox Street Art Festival muralist has hooked us. Who is the man carrying the bricks depicted on the wall? Is it a local bricklayer? Is it a tribute to the stone mason, a man who may have built the wall he now graces? Is it one artisan honouring another?

'Yes, interest and debate. And if you are too upfront with people about what it's about you kind of lose that really.”

Well, we're ready to lose it. The mural has fully evolved and we're screaming to know. Fintan gives up the answers in a phone call on his way to Sydney airport, on his way to another exotic destination; on his way to another commission on another wall.

'It's almost a political cartoon really – a comment on Trump-ism – how disconnected working people can be with issues like immigration.” And anti-immigration is a big issue in Australia, as it is in New Zealand and globally.

'It's a guy who's building a wall around himself and blocking himself away from the process. It's a reaction to growing Trump-ism in Australia and New Zealand – the whole ‘build a wall and stop the boats' mentality. It's more of a political cartoon disguised as a portrait.”

It's something that's been on Fintan's mind for a couple of months.

'I am pretty tuned into the news cycle at the moment, it's something that definitely influences me.” And he has a fairly intense disliking of the United States president Donald Trump and what he stands for. 'Yeah, pretty much. A day after he was elected I wasn't very optimistic because he was so incompetent. 'I am more optimistic now.”

'I see the comical side of it. I also see some positives in that it's a change in the political landscape. Not the one I wanted but still a change.”

If you don't take any of those messages from the mural, not to worry. 'It's also a surrealistic image that I would like people to drawn their own meaning from or be intrigued by.”

And the face, the subject, the stonemason – who is it? 'I work off photographs basically and I paint friends a lot. And while he is a fictional character in the context of the mural, he is a friend of mine called Luke Shirlaw.” And there will be no callouses on his hands, Shirlaw is a photographer.

Fintan's family emigrated from Northern Ireland towards the end of the political violence there.

'I travelled back a lot and murals were a big part of the landscape – both political and paramilitary. They influenced me early on.”

As did the graffiti when he was growing up in Brisbane. 'I became a graffiti writer, went to art school and fell into muralism – I guess from my upbringing and because it's the kind of artform of now.”

Fintan's contribution to the Paradox Street Art Festival takes on a whole new perspective. And perhaps the service lane fagger will ponder Trump-ism and have an added attachment to the mural when he wanders down for his next sly rollie.

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1 comment

Fantastic! - Bring it on

Posted on 14-05-2017 08:54 | By Papamoaner

Some (not all) of those young illegal graffiti artists have talent too. Giving them a chance to express it in a way that doesn't pee everyone off would be constructive. Would be good to find a way to do that so they feel included. Some ancient "graffiti" in various places around the world is now considered to be priceless art.How do we make taggers feel included in art without creating a mess everywhere? Complex problem, but not insolvable. Keeping them at arm's length as social outcasts doesn't work. It just makes them want to do it more.


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