Mark Chu

Melbourne’s history of street art is mysterious, with New York roots and a host of works that cross both sides of the law. The 1980s – the birth of street art in Melbourne Street art finds its foundations in graffiti, a hardcore underground movement which arrived in Melbourne in 1983. While local graffiti writers aimed to show their style and dedication by the volume and difficulty of their unsolicited public work, it had a fun and political side too – often expressed on a massive scale. Perhaps the most famous local example is New Yorker Keith Haring’s 1984 mural at the Collingwood Technical College in Collingwood (now the Collingwood Arts Precinct). This reflected Melbourne’s growing appetite for vibrant public commissions, like Mirka Mora’s underappreciated mosaic masterpiece on the St Kilda Rd concourse of Flinders St Station in the CBD, lining the Clocks restaurant’s al fresco section.   Photograph: Graham DenholmThe Keith Haring Mural The 1990s – street art innovates By the 1990s, a grander look had emerged in street art as lettering merged with conventional illustrative art techniques. A community project by Prahran railway station drove a groundbreaking artwork called 'The Style Machine' by Duel, Mars and Pest: a three-story high mural with an environmental message showing the city as a nuclear apocalypse, as well as lettering which transforms in style when passed through a conveyer belt. The area has since become a set of apartment blocks. Simultaneously, writers l