A WANDER DOWN FISH LANE... BRISBANE...

Today we caught up with our good friends Pete & Leanne Wright.  They had visited us at home back in March when they were passing through and as we all have a real interest in photography and street art we decided to meet up next time we were in Brisbane to go and check out some of the amazing Street Art in Brisbane...

They met us at Chloe's for a cuppa just after 11am and then we all headed into Southbank for lunch.

Pete and Leanne took us to Ole's for lunch.  It is one of their favourite haunts at Southbank...

 

 

 Ole's is a Spanish restaurant which is proud of their authentic Spanish food.   There motto is that Spain is a vibrant and colourful country where beautiful, fresh food is perfectly paired with warm and friendly people.  The staff here were definitely friendly and the food was exceptional. 

Pete and Leanne were familiar with the menu and although they asked us to choose, they highly recommended either the Cordero or the Paella Marisco...

In the end we decided on the Cordero, which was a slow cooked lamb shoulder, seasonal grilled vegetables, goats curd, charred lemon with lamb gravy.  Peter and Leanne had shared this before and found that even for two people it was a huge meal, so we decided to share it amongst the four of us as it was only lunch and we had morning tea just before leaving Chloe's so none of us were ravishingly hungry.

On my goodness when the meal arrived at our table, it was a whole shoulder of lamb, cooked to perfection.  It fell off the bone.  

This one meal fed us all..

It was a lovely relaxing lunch and just the place to go to get us prepared for our Street Art wander as directly in front of where we were seated, was a column displaying some of the latest street art to be added to this area of Brisbane...

 

These ones are pretty new, having only been done this year, but I am yet to find too much information on them.  

We left the restaurant and decided that since it was a lovely afternoon we would walk the several blocks to Fish Lane to check out the art and we also planned to check the art in Hope Street also, as it was close by...

Leaving the restaurant, the first art installations we came across were in Grey Street in front of the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre..

 These giant geometric gem-like sculptures dot the streets in South Bank and make up the series Pamphlet. The individual sculptures (Tea Leaf Paradox, Unfolded and Fortune) are made up of panels which feature photography images, wallpaper and vinyl patterns. Each piece is installed in an unexpected or bizarre way. 

This then led us onto the South Brisbane Railway Station where there is a whole wall of murals...  I can't seem to find out too much about these murals, but they appeal to have been on this wall for a long time.  They don't seem to feature too much in the Street Art information around Brisbane, but they were still interesting to look out and they did stand out...

Pete outside of the South Brisbane Railway Station...

Large mural of wall near the South Brisbane Railway Station...

From here it was only another couple of blocks to Fish Lane where most of the art work we wanted to check out was located.

 As we headed past the Queensland Museum, I finally got to get a photo of the giant cicada sculpture that is situation on the road there.

Whilst this big Cicada is an art piece, it is also one that i want to include in my Big Aussie Icons from around the country.  This work of art sits at the end of a bus platform in between the Cultural Centre Precinct (museum, library, art gallery and theatre)

Fish Lane is like a hidden gem.... It was our first time here.  It's a long, narrow alleyway in South Brisbane full of cafes, bars and restaurants.  Fish Lane is also surrounded by galleries, cultural institutions and thankfully for us, is packed full of amazing public street art.  One of the quirkier spots for Brisbane street art due to its eclectic mix of murals, graffiti and even walkable artwork.  We could imagine that it would come into its own after dark when the eateries and bars all come to life...

The first lot of work that caught our eye, where these pieces small blue sculptural pieces  by Blu Art Xinja.  This artist moulds them into the urban landscape wherever he travels.  There were a couple of these we came across in the lane.

 

This artwork also took our fancy,  artwork to make look like a set of brick doors fitting into the brick work of the wall...  Quite clever...

 

This next little oasis totally caught us all by surprise...  They have taken the concrete jungle of a motorway and turned it in a oasis where one can sit and relax right in the middle of the city.  It is totally hidden away and you can only find it by walking down the laneway...  Even our friends who have lived in the south east corner did not know of it's existence.

There are definitely some talented artists around and this laneway really is like venturing into an outdoors art gallery.

This striking monochromatic artwork by Claire Matthews envelopes the whole front and side facades of the Hello Please Vietnamese restaurant, which is situated on the corner of Fish Lane and Hope Street.  Her inspiration is taken from the ocean  with an enormous octopus and jellyfish floating alongside an enormous message in a bottle.

 

The “Steam Machine” by James & Eleonor Avery throws back to the days of the Brisbane Steam Laundry and Eodone Aerated Water Company.  These two sculptures mimicking jets of steam, sit on the corner of Hope Street and Fish Lane right in front of the Hello Please Vietnamese Restaurant.  They are coloured blue to mirror the colour of water, and made from rolled and faceted aluminium to craft a unique light play and it certainly catches the eye.  We had a little fun with these, as someone walking by offered to take our photo for us..

This work of art is also located on the corner of Fish Lane and Hope Street (across from the Fox Hotel) and is the work of Fintan Magee, a local Brisbane artist, although now internationally renowned for his work.  The piece is entitled “”Head in the Clouds” and pays homage to the industrial aspects of Brisbane history.  It depicts a woman with her face hidden behind clouds of fabric – inspired by discarded cloths found in the abandoned Rocklea Spinning Mills.  It represents the de-industrialisation of the South Brisbane area as factories and warehouses disappear, and replaced with high-density housing, upmarket restaurants and a booming cultural and arts scene.

Located at each end of Fish Lane (between Hope Street and Merivale Street)  we discovered two large-scale works by  Lix North.  They are entitled “East of the Mountains and West of the Sea”, and the murals pay homage to George Fish, the namesake of Fish Lane. An astute business man and South Brisbane local, George Fish was most famous for his interest in steam during the late 19^th century, establishing a steam laundry on nearby Grey Street.

One of the things you notice as you walk down Fish Lane is the playful mural weaving its way down the road surface, the patterned artwork is the work of Elizabeth Woods and Kevin Leong and  leads you on a voyage of discovery.  The blue and teal tiles intertwine to form a flowing river, a play on the laneway’s moniker.  Unlike large-scale public spaces, crammed with crowds and stilted displays, the laneway has rhythm but like the river this work embodies.

International duo Gillie and Marc’s iconic work can be found all over the world, including New York; and now the pair’s Greener Dogman and Rabbitwoman call Fish Lane home. Topiary inspired, Greener Dogman and Rabbitwoman symbolises ties to Mother Nature as well as the unification of a dog and rabbit, two beings who otherwise wouldn’t get along in the wild. This piece was created to show that love is the most powerful force of all.

Marumba Kittibilla by Warraba Weatherall & Daniel Jones are the creators of this larger-than-life  mural of a willy wagtail birds, flowering kurrajong tree and a stingless bee  which celebrates cultural empowerment and acts as a reminder of the Indigenous landscape. Many Aboriginal nations have a relationship with the willy wagtail and, although diverse, the playful bird is generally known as a messenger.  These Australian fantails are active feeders — they are constantly moving, hopping around and foraging — this has a connection to the modern context of this vibrant inner-city laneway filled with buzzing bars and restaurants. 

The Aboriginal language words were provided by Gaja (Aunty) Kerry Charlton; “marumba” meaning “good” and “kittibilla” meaning “day”. It is a message for visitors to have a good day.  This one was one of our favourites.  

Our visit to Fish Lane happened a week after ANZAC Day so Jodie Connolly’s artwork  Ä Life Long Prromise” which depicts a promise that changed scores of lives for the better struck a chord with us.   After World War I, Legacy House upheld a promise made on the battlefield to support and care for the families of those who never made it home. For nearly a century, Legacy House has provided essential support to those in need, and this mural pays homage to those who could make it happen.

A flying dragon, a fish house, and a turtle island… it sounds unlikely, but you can spot them all blended seamlessly in this aquatic-coloured masterpiece.  These are located atop the distinctive red façade of Miss Green’s Bean (formerly the Paladar Fumior Salon) “Nice to Meet You Again” by  Hong Kong artist Bao Ho’s  is his first contribution to the  Brisbane’s art scene. Akin to how admirers look for the smaller images in this large-scale mural, the artwork personifies Ho’s personal search for “me” against the backdrop of a bigger picture. Its vivacious blues, flowing water, and abundance of painted sea creatures is a nod to its location across from Fish Lane.

Giant cellophane-like discs make up this colourful installation entitled ”Echo” by Australian artist Nike Savvas. Suspended above the walkway outside Gelato Messina, the 85 acrylic discs create a rainbow of colour as different light hits it during the day – and its particularly beautiful lit up at night.

This massive mural entitled “The Harvest” by artist Mimi represents the four stages of wine production: grow, harvest, produce, and drink. This piece celebrates the sustainable, farm-to-table mindset seen so often in South Brisbane and celebrates the burgeoning farm to table ethos in the South Brisbane area..

Gold Coast based artist, Loretta Lizzo completed “Adrift” as part of the 2020 Brisbane Street Art Festival. A timely depiction of the uncertainties of our planet’s future, you can spot this nostalgic mural on the carpark entrance of the Melbourne Residences apartments, opposite Mimi’s “The Harvest” (above).

These two pieces  of gorgeous sculptures  by Christopher Trotter are standing  tall at the tail end of Fish Lane.

“Cormorant” is sculpted out of recycled metal objects, and not only pays homage to Christopher’s other pieces scattered throughout South Brisbane (some of which have graced the area since 1994), but also looks stunning against a bright blue sky.

Beginning his career as a graffiti artist in Brisbane,  Sofles has gone on to become internationally renowned. The Australian artist’s work seems to be everywhere – and for good reason! This striking black and white mural entitled “The Finished Wall” adorns the wall of 75 Fish Lane. With several female faces painted in a three dimensional style, “The Finished Wall” will be instantly recognizable to fans of Sofles’ work.

 We had hoped to continue our walk up around Hope Street to check out some more Street Art there, but dark thunderous clouds were forming and as we checked the BOM site, we knew we were for a massive storm and it was heading our way.  As we had walked quite some distance to get to where we were , we decided that Hope Street would have to wait for another day and it was time to head back to our car. 

We took a quite walk back down Melbourne Street to Grey Street which is where I came across these painted Electricity boxes.  They just add to the character and reputation of this part of Brisbane’s street art culture.

As we headed back past the restaurant in Little Stanley Street where we had our lunch, we noticed again the two new artworks that had been completed this year as part of the Street Art Festival.  Both are pretty impressive works of art.  

Little Stanley Street was closed to Traffic today as they set up for the Big Truck Festival which was on this week.  There were some very impressive trucks lined up there and had it not been for the upcoming storm, we would have been very tempted to spend a lot more time there checking them out.  We just didn’t want to get caught in the downpour she we just headed for the undercover car park.

Southbank is looking quite festive at the moment and it would have been nice to have been able to linger… But alas, we will have to leave it for another day.

Judging by the BOM site when we got back to the car, we estimated that we had about 15 minutes before the storm was going to hit, so we headed back to Dan and Chloe’s and arrived with just minutes to spare, the rain started by the time we got out of the car, and by the time we got inside it was torrential.  It bucketed out of the sky, and the lightning and thunder were very impressive.  The whole storm lasted for about 40 minutes. 

We were very thankful to have made it home before it hit…