MONKEY
Australia 1984

Bats. 2004
stencil
Not signed. Not dated. Not titled. Not inscribed.
printed image (irregular) 76.0 (h) x 102.3 (w) cm
Gordon Darling Australia Pacific Print Fund 2007
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
NGA 2007.61.1

Monkey’s stencil art can be seen on and around the streets of Melbourne and also in a small number of cafes and bars.  He has designed advertising material and has also been involved with Melbourne’s Big Day Out and the Melbourne Fringe Festival project.

It seems clear that Melbourne artist, Monkey, has taken his inspiration from the city’s notorious, shadowy character: the bat.  Melbourne’s sky at dusk can be thick with cavorting gangs of little leather jackets, sweeping into the city to raise hell.  The many bats in this work, with their exaggerated jagged black wings and cheeky faces, are loosely structured on the page in a pattern of decorative repetition, giving an impression of invasion - whether due to the clearing of their natural habitat or for some other unrelated (even blood-thirsty!) purpose.

The huge and growing number of these midnight marauders have become an enduring part of Melbourne’s intriguing night setting. It seems Melbourne City is a great fit for these wild rockers of the animal world...

Karie Wilson