Space Invaders

Off the street and into the gallery. This exciting book looks at work from the past five years by some 35 contemporary artists from around Australia. Playful, edgy, clever, satirical and political, street art has significantly altered Australian visual culture over the past decade and has announced the arrival of a new generation of contemporary artists.

Space invaders engages with these developments and the radically differing aesthetic offshoots of street art, from stencils to paste-ups, stickers, and zines. It also explores the legal and commercial issues particular to street art in Australia, and reveals the strategies artists have used to divide their practice between the street and the gallery. It includes insightful essays by people engaged with the scene, interviews with artists practising on the streets today, and a multitude of fabulous images.

Jaklyn Babington is assistant curator of international prints, drawings, and illustrated books at the National Gallery of Australia. Other contributors include Roger Butler, Din Heagney, Eloise Peace, and Alison Young.

Space Invaders / Jaklyn Babington

An Initial Wave: Connecting Crews

Neo-Pop: A Culture of Sampling and Appropriation

Politics and the Street Press

POPaganda: Commercial Counter Attacks

Lo-Fi Goes Viral

The Return of the Hand

Shape-Shifters: Crossover Tactics and the Gallery

The Journey from Ephemeral to Collectable

Street Art: Past and Present, Here and There / Roger Butler

Bypassing the System: Zine Culture in Australia / Eloise Peace

Legal / Illegal: Street Art in Australia / Alison Young

The Rise (and Fall) of Street Stencils / Din Heagney

Interviews
-Mini Graff
-Misha Hollenbach
-Nails

Director's Word / Ron Radford

NewActon South Lift-Shaft Commission / Adi Nachman

Contributors