Another Day on Swan Street

93 x 123 cm
Acrylic & aerosol on canvas, natural timber frame.

This original stencil painting by Melbourne artist Geoff Cunningham captures the nostalgic character of Australian neighbourhoods and everyday childhood moments of the 1970s and 80's. Geoff blends hand-cut stencils and layered spray techniques to create bold light, shadow and detail. Each piece celebrates the warmth, simplicity and familiarity of retro Australian life.

"'Another Day on Swan Street' captures Richmond in a quieter era - old shopfronts, overhead wires, classic cars and the landmark Dimmey’s building before Swan Street became the busy strip it is today.

A young bloke in a battered leather jacket and Cold Chisel T-shirt (my favourite band as a teenager) walks through the foreground, newspaper in hand, while a woman waits further back by the road. He’s not anyone in particular - that slightly romanticised version of ourselves when we were younger. Probably cooler than we actually were.

There’s no big event happening. People are just getting on with their day, which is exactly what makes scenes like this feel so evocative now.

Painted from an archival streetscape using hand-cut multi-layer stencils, the work is about memory, place and the ordinary moments that somehow become important with time." – Geoff Cunningham