Props to the Props

Props to the Props was a solo Exhibition I had at Tortuga Studios in November 2013 inspired by working at the Sydney prop hire company called Ace Props. As a part time job I delivered and retrieved Ace Props’s props to and from events around Sydney mostly late at night. Driving a rickety old truck I would grab strange props from the mega crooked Petersham warehouse and take them out to be set up or packed down from various spaces around town.

“Walking into Ace Props for the first time struck a chord with me. The tumble down warehouse in Petersham where the event props are stored was a sight to behold, random storage for a thousand parties and events, the place reminded my of my own creative river. It was as if this place is where Sydney’s party river deposited all the flotsam and jetsam of decades of social gatherings that are now washed up in a giant billabong drained of water to reveal the colourful and surreal deposits.

The crooked tumbledown warehouse full of party props ran wild in my imagination. The symbols of bygone eras are stacked high mixed up with an array of curiosities and collectables all radiating the memories the the events they attended and gathering dust until they get a chance to be celebrated again.“

Pumps and Ali from Ace Props are good friends of mine and I sometimes play in a band with accomplished drummer, Pumps in a band called The Sample Minds.

Pumps brought a load of props to the opening at Tortuga Studios which from memory was a wild affair which attracted a noisy early summer thunderstorm.

Before the company moved to Taren Point I painted the front of the old Ace Props building in Petersham opposite Petersham Railway station which like many old buildings in Sydney no longer exists.

Some of these artworks sold, some still exist, some were in the Well Connected Cafe in Glebe, I went in there one day to find the whole place shut down and the owners uncontactable, maybe somewhere in Sydney some of the large canvases from this show are hanging, still mustn’t grumble, some edition prints are still available.

The wall outside Tortuga on Appelbee st from around 2009-2015 had many murals painted by local graffiti and street artists, when the Props To The Props show was on it was my turn to decortate the wall…

Stay tuned to the Vectorpunk shop for Edition Prints still available from this show.