On Monday 7 August Year 11 General Art students experienced an incursion with local street artist Mike Shime, who goes by the name Shime. He is a respected and renowned figure in the Perth street art scene, having exhibited his work locally and internationally for more than 40 Years. Recently, he has worked with the Art Gallery of WA to organise the retrospective exhibition and publication The View from Here on the local history of his art-form and the street-art community.Â
Students enjoyed learning to plan large scale works, design lettering, and use spray-paint with finesse. To wrap up, they discussed Shime’s career starting out as a street artist in the 1980s and the evolution of his practice and distinctive style as his artform matured.
Shime works with diverse subjects taken from pop culture, native wildlife, community and local history and he shared his experience working as a career artist in dialogue with the class. This was a rich learning experience for our students.Â