LOCAL artist James Moulton has recently added to a mural started six years ago on a wall in Kempsey.
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Originally from the Canberra, James and his twin brother Bill travelled widely on their many talents before settling in Kempsey.
“Like most kids, we tried a few different sports, football among them, we didn't like it, James said.
Then one day we saw some break dancing, and street art and it was a light bulb moment. That’s when we knew we needed to do this, and we embraced it.”
There new found passion took them far and wide and even got them their first job.
“Our first real job was break-dancing at a club. We started being DJs at clubs in Brisbane as well; it just came out of nowhere.”
As their skills in street art and break dancing grew, the brothers began to get an idea that would see them gain international recognition.
“In about 1989 we started the first full-colour graffiti magazine, “Hype”. Before us there were really only a few books on it and Zenes, which were popular back then.
We were at the forefront of the movement; we showed that graffiti and street art could be a viable business. The first issue was only 12 pages; it was mostly showcasing street kids art. Then at about issue 15, it all changed.
It was crazy, people from all around the world were writing to us, it just exploded, we couldn't believe where it ended up going.”
The magazine lasted until 2005, but breakdancing had already reached its peak for James.
“In 2000 we represented Australia in the break dancing championship in Germany, the German police gave us a place to stay when we competed, it was fantastic, they really liked us, they invited us back.
I didn't go that well, by 2000 I’d already had enough of breakdancing, so I didn't have the passion anymore.”
James moved to Kempsey in 2008 and has been slowly adding to the mural pictured above for years.
Street art counts as anything nowadays; it would just be awesome to add some vibrant colours to the town, make Kempsey a brighter happy place.
- James Moulton
“We’ve been in Kempsey for about ten years now; it's a great place, I've never had any trouble here.
Six years ago we asked if we could paint the wall, we add to it all the time. It is there; we are able to paint it legally.”
James Moulton is also keen to organise a more structured event for street art in the future and get people from the community involved as well.
“Street art counts as anything nowadays, it would just be awesome to add some vibrant colours to the town, make Kempsey a brighter happy place, he said.
We would love to make an event out of it, put a BBQ on, have some beats, everyone could help paint the mural and add their own part to it.
It gets people together, brightens everything up, there would be a lot of amazing artists here in Kempsey, they just need a chance to show off their talent. ”
Check out the Moulton twins on Instagram, “Bboy_Seiz” for James and “Exit” for Bill.
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