Words by Jacob McCormack
Claudia Gold, who is more commonly and perhaps affectionately known as Claw Money has made a name for herself as a trailblazing graffiti artist in the New York scene.
She emerged into this artistic culture amidst a time where it was dominated by men, and yet since then has achieved so much in all that she has expressed creatively.
She does, however, remain an inter-disciplinary creative to her core, with forays into fashion, design, authorship and more recently the establishment of her very own consulting agency. She has collaborated with brands such as Nike and NASCAR alongside the countless murals she has painted around the world. Gold has impacted modern art and culture in frankly profound ways, and despite all of this a sense of humility and curiosity for new experiences remains.
Stay up to date with what’s happening within the region’s art scene here.
In a world-first, Australian exclusive exhibition held at Warrnambool Art Gallery, artistic director Aaron Bradbrook and Gold herself have pieced together a selection of her standout handmade garments and accessories, other design works and murals. Some of the murals will be featured in the art gallery space itself as well as paintings that have taken place both at Fitzroy Pool in collaboration with the City of Yarra and on a wall outside a Warrnambool Barber Shop.
I spoke with Gold the evening before the opening night of her show at the Warrnambool Art Gallery space and she had nothing but positivity to share of her experiences in Australia, a reflection of an artist that has accomplished so much, but maintains gratitude for the opportunities she has been awarded.
“It’s been so amazing,” says Gold. “From the moment I got off the plane in Melbourne I was heading to paint a mural with seven young ladies. That was an incredible experience to be a part of last week. My friend Tash One, who has been a prolific graffiti artist in the Brisbane scene since the ‘90s organised it all.”
The connection to Tash One has been an important one for Gold over the years. A relationship that despite distance pronounces the interconnectedness of the global graffiti scene.
“Graffiti makes the world a very small place,” she says. “Everyone in graffiti is related to someone else in the scene somehow. It was a great feeling to experience working with these young girls, and to put the face to some names of people I’ve been speaking to on the internet.”
Also woven into the program that was mapped out for Claudia was a moment spent in conversation with Tash One. A 90-minute morning exchange hosted at the Warrnambool Lighthouse Theatre on Sunday 17 November. Although long-time friends and international colleagues, Claw Money assured me that it would be far from an informal catch-up.
“Tash One is a professional and will take this conversation very seriously,” says Gold. “She has sat in conversation with many graffiti artists before, and has a lot of journalism experience. She will certainly have prepared questions that will have a lot of intentionality, and will spark some very interesting dialogue.”
“There are a lot of parallels. Tash is often overlooked, so it’s great to give her the space and time to be able to share her stories and showcase her skillset.”
The conversation undoubtedly acted as an ode to the global graffiti scene and the femmes who have played a pivotal role in leading the way. As an extension of this chat, a book signing took place immediately afterwards that saw the limited edition (400 copies only) re-release of Gold’s seminal book Bombshell: The Life and Crimes of Claw Money, first published in 2007 by PowerHouse Books.
That was after the experience of sharing in the opening night of the show.
“The opening night will be a celebration of all of my achievements,” she says. “And putting all of this together. That was a very hard thing to do geographically, it involved months of planning in advance. There was so much involved, inclusive of making new things and preparing to paint murals.”
“It will all come together in that evening; however, I will sadly have to go home to my family after the talk with Tash.”
Despite her time in Australia being short-lived due to the demands of being a mother and artist based in the USA, it has been an undeniably special and reciprocal experience to have Claudia Gold and her varied work in Australia.
Claw Money World will be on display until 16 March with access available through a range of admission fees depending on your demographic. The show itself is a must-visit for anyone interested in street art, pop-culture or fashion.
Find out more about the exhibition here.
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