Are street artists like Banksy and Drez really still on the outside?

Some of their faces remain hidden, but a new exhibition brings graffiti’s biggest names in from the cold. By John Bailey December 6, 2024 Having avoided the “macho” side of street art, Drez was keen to take his work to a wider audience.Credit: Eddie Jim Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size After earning degrees from Paris to Massachusetts, the artist now known as ELLE found her work consigned to an all-too-common fate. “Everything was getting rolled up and put under my bed and just dying. It was like this graveyard of paintings.” She quit art and moved to New York. Bartending kept her afloat, but the city’s street art scene pulled her back in. She began painting on paper and pasting it on walls. A few years later she had a line of Reebok sportswear, was fielding calls from Samsung and Toyota, and became a fixture on streets from Miami to Melbourne. One of her latest pieces will span the entire hull – more than 320 metres – of a Norwegian cruise liner. Have spray can, will travel. ELLE’s work is among more than 100 pieces of street art featuring in The Outsiders Melbourne, an exhibition built from...