Wonder Woman +

The other day I searched for this work, and stood almost beside it contemplating another mural on another wall. As I had posted a photo of that before, I left without seeing this. A bit of research informed me that it had to be here or hereabouts, so this morning I returned, and by turning around I saw it.

This was a collaborative venture by two street artists, Component and Seek. They did it at the request of the K Road Business Association, which intended to have a number of murals all painted over one weekend in May. Which turned out to be the wettest weekend or the year to that time. All the murals have gone up; this was the last being done a month or so later. I have posted a number of them in the last months.

Component is a stencil artist and DJ who is a resident in Grey Lynn where he has seen both gentrification of his home and the comodifacation of his passion. He brings together the authenticity of the past with the immediacy of the present. His work captures that solid boom bap aesthetic while never feeling like shallow homage to a bygone era. Component chooses to incorporate that old school Grey Lynn feel into his work, while making it fresh enough to sell to its new residents. His iconic T-shirts with the jandels and hibiscus flowers have become as much part of the local landscape as the SUVs and Soya latté’s.

Without knowing it was his work, I have blipped a couple of his pieces before. The one which I called Different Worlds, and he calls Life's a Lottery, has recently had his name appended. (Somewhat ironically, shortly before a new apartment building will be built covering up the wall it is on.) The Fishing Boy has appeared elsewhere, so that my later post of just that part of the mural serendipitously reflected another of his works.

I am delighted to also discover that the small Possum I blipped is his work as well. It has been white painted out in recent months.

I know little about Seek's work. I like the juxtaposition in this collaboration.