Project 5: Volume 4 Review

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Bambi

On Thursday night, 10P and I were lucky enough to represent Primo! at the Project 5: Volume 4 Live Auction, a collaborative event designed by the creative heads at aMBUSH, and the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

Those amongst us who were wealthy enough to bid clutched their registration numbers, while the rest of us clutched bottomless glasses of Absolut cocktails, and within the first hour of the event’s opening, the room represented a veritable Who’s Who of the Sydney urban art scene. Thusly, there was an awful lot of delectable schmoozing going on, with an electrically flirtatious buzz in the air that may have been augmented by the aphrodisiac effect of the oysters (yes, oysters! At an art show!) and by the mental will-I-or-won’t-I? situation in the lead up to the auction.

Just as it began to rain, the auction was announced and the 250 guests to the Cleland Bond Store in the Rocks gathered inside to see how the proceedings unfolded. Up for grabs were four large-scale works by four iconic Australian street artists, HAHA, Vexta, E.L.K and REKA, and the sale of each work would go to benefit the Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE). In the end, HAHA sold for $1,100, Vexta for $3,500, REKA for $1,800 and E.L.K for a beautiful $6,400. As I’m sure you all know by now, E.L.K recently made history by being the first stencil artist to place as a finalist in the Archibald Prize, and it could be this amazing and newsworthy achievement that has escalated his works’ value.

All up, Project 5 raised $12, 800 for ICE. It’s really exciting to see how much is going on in Sydney at the moment to enrich our city’s cultural depth, and Primo! was thrilled to witness Project 5’s contribution first-hand.