The Rio Milk Bar. Image courtesy Eamon Donnelly
When did you last pick up the bread and morning paper from the corner store?
Embedded deep within the Australian psyche, the iconic institution is to be celebrated in Banner Gallery, The Milk Bar, Eamon Donnelly, during Art & About Sydney 2014.
‘Everyone has a story to share with a milk bar connection. It’s amazing that everyone you mention it to has a story and nostalgia from their childhood and upbringing,’ said internationally recognised artist and illustrator Eamon Donnelly.
‘It was the first taste of independence for me, going to the milk bar, riding down the back lane at 7, 8 years old, the first kind of trip on your own. Getting mixed lollies, ice creams and stepping into this crazy, colourful world.’
Drawing from personal online archive The Island Continent – spanning tens of thousands of nostalgic Australian images – Donnelly will display a series of images on large banners across Sydney sites that include George Street, Martin Place and Oxford Street.
The Supa Bonza Store. Image courtesy Eamon Donnelly
Visitors can also see a selection of 20 large-scale photographic images on display throughout the course of the three week festival at World Square. ‘Out of this archive we’ve picked 100 images, and it’s a mix of fronts, interiors and old advertising signage.
‘There’s a cross-selection across the hundred, and they’ll be spread out on banners across the city. It’s a lot of Australia – that crazy colourful imagery born out of [the] post war era up until the ’80s,’ he said.
With the gradual demise of the milk bar across the suburban landscape, Donnelly said that Banner Gallery, The Milk Bar is synonymous with this year’s Art & About festival theme of Endangered, which underscores the entire program.
‘It’s all about that stuff that is disappearing, and the milk bar is a really good example of family, community, neighbourhoods, and suburbia that slowly has disappeared with the onset of the supermarkets in the 1970s. Opening hours changed to 24/7, petrol stations started selling bread and milk, the milk bar is still around but they’re not as relevant as they used to be.
‘People don’t really notice they’re still there. It’s not part of the Australian culture like it used to be. It really does fit in with the Australian theme,’ he said.
Olympia Milk Bar. Image courtesy Eamon Donnelly
A recognised commercial illustrator who has worked on some of the globe’s most familiar brands, Donnelly said he is thrilled to be participating in this year’s Art & About.
‘It’s probably the most exciting project I’ve been involved with to date. I’ve done a lot of commercial work, but in terms of my personal work it’s very exciting to be a part of it, and for this archive to be recognised and exhibited in this way.’
What and where:
Banner Gallery, The Milk Bar at World Square is located at 680 George St, Sydney, with street banners on display at George Street, Martin Place, William Street, Oxford Street, Glebe Point Road and Redfern Street.
Art & About Sydney 2014 runs from 19 September to 12 October in sites across Sydney.
For complete program details visit the Art & About website.
This is a free event.
