Collection Details

Miss Placed; Murray, Wendy; 2017; BCC MRY 001

Name/TitleMiss Placed

About this objectThe artist known as Mini Graff was born in 1974 in Hamilton, New Zealand and attended high school in Kerikeri, and Massey University in Wellington. Living in Sydney since 2000, she has a masters degree from the National Art School, Sydney. As well as appearing in unsanctioned public spaces, Mini Graff’s work has been shown in touring exhibitions across Australia, including the National Gallery of Australia touring exhibition Space Invaders, and is held in collections including the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Australian National Library, UQ Museum and the State Library of Victoria.

For two decades Mini Graff’s vivid satirical posters and stencils have appeared fleetingly on street walls, signage and urban objects. They operate intentionally outside the narrative structures of art institutional conventions, and often reference Hip-Hop culture, protest movements and public claims to the privatisation of city spaces. Both the Not Commercial series (2016-2017) and Equality series (2014-2017) respond to these issues.

In an age of computerised and digitised image-making, Mini Graff’s practice is distinctive for its artisanal nature. Her work is produced through hand-cut stencils and Letraset typeface, which are then transferred to paper, stickers, or surfaces by screen printing and spray painting. Parody, humour, and social commentary are common themes in her work. This combination - hand-made technique with telling content - aligns Mini Graff’s work with pan-twentieth century traditions of the use of montage, agitprop graphics and political protest slogans in socially aware art.

Mini Graff’s new work for It’s Our Thing Part II included a large street banner and a site-specific paste-up, titled 'Miss Placed', applied directly to the shipping container housing the Garage Graphix archive: the posters and equipment from the community-owned visual arts organisation in Blacktown, Garage Graphix Community Arts Inc. Garage Graphix, based in Mount Druitt from 1981-1998, was significant in the development of Australian street art.

MakerMurray, Wendy

Date Made2017

Medium and MaterialsAcrylic screen-printing ink on 90gsm litho paper

Place MadeOceania, Australia, New South Wales, Sydney

Measurements102 h x 73 w cm

Named CollectionBlacktown City Art Collection

Credit Line© Wendy Murray
Acquired 2017, 'Its Our Thing: More on Australian Hip-Hop Part II' exhibition, The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre.
Photo: Michael Corridore

Object TypeScreenprint

Object numberBCC MRY 001