There are so many graffiti and "street-art" books on the shelves these days. For lots of people, the coffee table is as gritty as it gets - and the publishers know it. As a result there are lots of boring, poorly researched tomes out there right now.
But here is a book to make you smell the paint and fall back into a nostalgic haze, because it's about Melbourne. And it's made with love and sincerity by people who have been at the coal face of the scene.
KINGS WAY: THE BEGINNINGS OF AUSTRALIAN GRAFFITI, MELBOURNE 1983-93 is the real deal people.
This is the local equivalent of Subway Art. It takes us on a photographic ride through the jungle that was our very own subculture of trains, writers, crews and infamy through the heyday of the eighties and early nineties.
Mapping the progression of styles, influences and key players in the graf scene the attention to detail is unmatched. Over the last two years co-authors Duro Cubrilo, Martin Harvey and Karl Stamer have painstakingly crafted Kings Way into a 384 page book featuring over 12 hundred full-colour images with contributions by over 60 people including the likes of Bathy, Chose, Duel, Duet, Krisy, Merda, New2, Paris, Peril, Puzle, Ransom and Ron the Train Driver.
Keep your eye on the Kings Way
blog for the special edition which rocks some limited edition niceness. But you'll still get the awesome fold out poster wrapped around the general edition - so don't sweat it too hard.
Authors: Duro Cubrilo, Martin Harvey, Karl Stamer
Pulished by: Miegunyah Press
384 pages
225 x 280mm
Over 1200 full colour images
Book Launch
Saturday, July 18th, 2009 - 6pm (free)
ACMI
Function Space
Federation Square, Melbourne