Twenty/20 Exhibition

PHOTOS  |  JO-ANN McEWAN

Here at IVV we’re all about marching to the beat of one’s own drum (or thumper, if you’d prefer). We don’t really subscribe to the idea of a social uniform. You would more often find each of us donning silk blouses or plain tees than anything emblazoned with slogans (however, stripes clearly don’t count in this argument and will live on in our hearts forever).

Living in a consumer society makes it slightly more difficult to get unique apparel. One solution is to get a degree in design and then handmake all your own clothing. And shoes. And sunglasses?

A solution which may more widely appeal to the instant gratification generation is to consider customised gear.

Andy and Giles from Sabotage Motorcycles (in association with Art Pharmacy and Vandal Gallery in Redfern) put together the exhibition Twenty/20, inviting twenty artists to each make their mark on a donated DMD moto helmet for auction in support of the Movember Foundation.

A veritable mixed bag of styles (no capital ‘i’ Impressionists to be seen though), each of the helmets is finished off with a shiny, durable clear coat by Kyle of Smith Concepts. Not one to do things by halves, he was also one of the contributing artists. Certainly no stranger to the custom scene, he pinstripes, airbrushes and gold flakes his way across bikes, cars, skateboards and helmets in his day-to-day. Some of the artists to unsubtly name drop include Sindy Sinn, Mike Watt (the illustrator, not the bass player for the Minutemen), Nico (the graf artist, not the German Velvet Underground vocalist), Amy Roser, and Ginger Taylor.

Since mid-2016 and her feature on Kara Diane’s shemakers blog, we’ve lusted after the work of Lauren Webster (aka Lauren and the Lost Boys), her images of hazy desert scenes and rusty car wrecks ablaze with graphic knives, pistols, and cacti embellishments. Her bold style carries well across different media, and Webster’s contribution to Twenty/20 doesn’t disappoint: floating on a creamy DMD base are monochrome, stamp-like constellations, a bee, a flick knife, a lit match, and one distinct eucalyptus blossom.

We had a grand old time at the opening night, the liquid refreshments provided by Young Henrys and Sailor Jerry offsetting the balmy, cusp-of-Sydney-summer evening. Each of the helmets (and a few original panel works) are being auctioned here, but if you miss out on the bidding action, try your luck and get in contact with Sabotage Motorcycles, or see below for some inspiration to kickstart your own custom creations.