Art collector Sandra Powell was travelling in Japan when she heard about a vacant storefront at one end of Melbourne’s street art mecca, Hosier Lane.
She couldn’t get back to Australia fast enough. Powell and her partner Andrew King (together known as Sandrew) are the biggest collectors of street art in Australia, and the location was perfect for an exhibition of their greatest hits.
They pulled together a show featuring 100 works including some by the world’s biggest names in street art, from Banksy to Blak le Rat and Invader, in just six weeks.
There’s a whole room of Banksys on show, including a never-before-seen sculpture titled Firewall – a computer set-up with a brick wall in place of a computer screen.
“It’s the highest level of security you will ever get on your computer,” joked Powell.
The vacant shop was previously a high-end menswear store, and the super-quick installation time has meant some innovations – such as another Banksy sculpture (a riot squad helmet converted into a mirror ball) displayed in a former changeroom.
The free exhibition titled The Outsiders Melbourne is set to become a tourist drawcard over summer, and Sandrew’s hope is that it could lead to a permanent space for work by the city’s street artists.
“This is our gift to the people of Melbourne,” said King.
“Our aim is to have a Melbourne centre for street art and to make Melbourne the number one street art capital of the world.”
While The Outsiders brings the city’s street art scene firmly inside, the movement’s anti-authoritarian humour is very much on show.
By the entrance there’s a Big Bird soft toy gaffer taped to a wall, opposite a 2002 stencil by DLux that reads “Don’t be scared, it’s only street art”.
While there are some big international names, much of the art is by local stars including Rone, Matt Adnate, Kaff-eine and E.L.K.
Rone, who held his own exhibition above Flinders Street Station in 2023, didn’t believe it would be possible to stage such a big show so quickly, but hopes it will boost the city’s appreciation of its street art movement.
“I feel like this is the tip of the iceberg of how much stuff there is to show and discuss, and to educate people that it’s more than just a tag,” Rone told AAP.
The question that dogs exhibitions such as this is whether street art can retain its spirit and energy when shown on a gallery wall. But for Rone, who started off doing graffiti in Hosier Lane, it’s not something that matters too much.
“This is almost like a documentation of street art, it captures artists’ styles in the moment they’ve painted it, which reflects what they’ve probably painted on the street,” he said.
“It’s not exactly the same context and environment, but it still is that artist’s true work.”
Sandrew have been buying street art for 15 years, as well as advising artists and championing the street art community, which generally works outside the commercial gallery system.
“I’ve never actually witnessed that in the art world, ever … They’re actually family to so many of us,” said Matt Adnate.
The movement has evolved from tags to large-scale pieces, stencils and murals – but along with the increasingly sophisticated street art comes gentrification, said Rone.
“I’ve seen laneways change, where people dump rubbish the week before, and we go and paint a mural – next Sunday, people have a barbecue there, there’s an instant change that happens,’ he said.
The Outsiders Melbourne runs Thursday to May 25 at Level 1, 167 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.
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