The Thousands

Illegality and temporality have been two cornerstones of graf art, but Tugi Balo, founder of May’s Lane Art Project, smashed them to pieces like those martial arts guys do with bricks and other hard to smash things.

In 2005 he transformed a drab back alley in St Peters into a world of ever-evolving artworks, kaleidoscopic colour and sweet sweet paint fumes, fully sanctioned by the council and community.**Since then, he’s continuously invited artists to come and work their skills on 3×2.5m installed panels, which were then stashed away for a huge retrospective.

The resulting exhibition is striking in its stencils, sculpture and spray, but most importantly, because it documents a grassroots street art scene that would often be overlooked by big gun art institutions.