All Australian Graffiti
MIMMO COZZOLINO UNPACKS ALL AUSTRALIAN GRAFFITI
A bunch of 7 illustrators/designers who worked together in Melbourne for a relatively short time in the 1970s. We started with a vision and slowly set about manifesting it. In the process we created a body of work that informed, entertained, inspired and eventually attracted critical attention (as well as paying for the rent). For a small studio we sure made a lot of noise. Sincere but whacky promotion was the key to our success. Year after year, well after the studio had closed its doors, I kept being invited to give talks about ALL AUSTRALIAN GRAFFITI (AAG) to design students at Swinburne, Chisholm, Prahran, RMIT and Phillip.
In June 2005 Kevin Pappas, Con Aslanis, Geoff Cook, Izi Marmur, Tony Ward, Neil Curtis, Meg Williams and I, the 8 members of AAG, were honoured with a retrospective of our work, past and current, at the Post Master Gallery, National Philatelic Collection of Australia Post in “We’re a weird mob” an exhibition curated by Elizabeth Gertsakis.
It is always challenging to write about yourself so I invite you to read what other people have written about us (even if we’ve paid some of them to do it). You can also follow up on individual AAG members and see some of our work. I have included Rennie Ellis’ 1977 bio for each of us; there is also a bio from each member about what they have been doing since their time at AAG. The texts in the links below are in chronological order.
Rennie Ellis: "The Kevin Pappas Tear Out Postcard Book and All Australian Graffiti."
Helen Garner: "Kevin Pappas– All Australian Graffitist."
Andrew Budge: "All Australian Graffiti– critical regionalism in graphic design."
Andrew Budge: "A jingo's got my baby– an examination of Australia’s national identity..."
Elizabeth Gertsakis: "We’re a weird mob– designing a cultural identity."
Dr Denise Whitehouse: "Wogs, skips, icons - designing a cultural identity."
Chris Healey: “All Australian Graffiti and the Cultural Cringe.”
I wrote a recollection of the formation of AAG and other matters in an a short essay called “Papa, when I grow up I’ma goinga to be an Australiano.” (The Lie of the Land, National Centre for Australian Studies, Melbourne, 1992)
Sadly, our good mate Neil Curtis passed away in December 2006.
MC, 2009