Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Three murals

In Pitt Street with interesting sunset reflections, an old painted advertisement for Rex Simpson's fine clothes for men (the brand no longer exists)...
Dans Pitt Street avec d'intéressants reflets de coucher du soleil, une publicité peinte pour "Rex Simpson, habillement raffiné pour homme" (la marque n'existe plus)...

In George Street, a painted ad for Gowings, Gentlemen's outfitters, established 1868.
Gowings was a small department store chain specialised in men's casual clothing, camping gear and knick-knacks. After the site of the original head store was redeveloped in 1929 it became one of the most prominent and famous department stores in Sydney. I went in there several times, its several floors were a fascinating place to browse through. After 2001 Gowings embarked on an ambitious expansion plan, opening four more Gowings stores in other locations in Sydney. Although successful in the City, their locations in suburbans areas failed to attract customers. In November 2005, after three years of successive losses, the company entered administration. Attempts to sell the business were unsuccessful and the last remaining Gowings store, the one located in George Street, closed its doors on 29 January 2006. Its former competitor Lowes now occupies the building. Life and death of a business, this ad is all that remains...
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Dans George Street, une publicité peinte pour Gowings , vêtement pour hommes, établi en 1868. Gowings, un grand magasin spécialisé dans les vêtements pour homme et le matériel de camping (un peu l'équivalent du "Vieux Campeur" à Paris) a longtemps été une institution à Sydney. J'y suis allée plusieurs fois, c'était un magasin passionnant à explorer. Après 2001 Gowings s'est embarqué dans une expansion ambitieuse en ouvrant quatre nouveaux magasins autour de Sydney. Mais alors que le magasin du centre ville dégageait des profits, ceux des banlieues n'ont jamais vraiment pris. En 2005, après trois ans de pertes successives, la société est entrée en liquidation. Faute de repreneur, le dernier magasin Gowings, celui de George Street, a fermé ses portes le 29 janvier 2006. L'immeuble est aujourd'hui occupé par son ancien concurrent Lowes. Vie et mort d'une entreprise, cette publicité peinte est tout ce qui reste de l'aventure...

The third, located in Cathedral Street, has nothing to do with advertising - looks more like a commissioned work to decorate an otherwise ugly wall. Sixties ? Seventies ? It's in bad condition and I couldn't find any information about it, so I'll comment it freely. The woman on the right, tied to her typewriter (no, a sewing machine, thanks Alice!) in front of an ugly grey building seems to personify alienation at work, while her counterpart to the left, all smile among a flight of white doves, appears to represent the liberation of women. Hopefully there's a move from one to the other... at least that's the way I see it. Would you interpret it differently? Either way, the fitness addict passing in front of it seems baffled!

Mon troisième mur peint, situé dans Cathedral Street, n'est pas une publicité. On dirait plutot un travail subventionné pour décorer un mur pas bien gai. Années soixante ? Soixante-dix ? Je n'ai trouvé aucune information sur ce mur en fort mauvais état, je l'interprète donc librement. A droite, une femme attachée à sa machine à écrire (non, c'est une machine à coudre, Alice a raison !) devant un triste immeuble gris semble représenter l'aliénation au travail, tandis que celle de gauche, tout sourire au milieu d'un envol de colombes blanches, semble représenter la libération des femmes. Interprétation toute subjective je l'admets - en avez-vous une autre ? En tout cas, notre joggeur au pied du mur semble écrasé par cette vision !

49 comments:

alice said...

Ne serait-ce pas une machine à coudre et une fermeture éclair? Jolies tonalités, toutes ces trouvailles!

Nathalie H.D. said...

Tu as raison Alice, c'est une machine a coudre ! Je corrige mon texte !

You are right Alice, it IS a sewing machine! I'll correct my text!

Anonymous said...

I always find "work" amazing. As we are tied to it and to debt and to those who have the money. In that sense we are not as free as we think we are.

Abraham Lincoln
Trapping the Japanese Beetle
Brookville Daily Photo
Some published works

Maxime said...

J'aime beaucoup ces trois photos, toutes trois intéressantes par leur cadrage autant que par leur sujet. Elles dégagent aussi un parfum de nostalgie, comme si ces années avaient passé tellement vite, que les activités, ou la signification du signe ont disparu avant leur représentation même.
J'ai un petit faible pour celle du haut, à cause de l'enchevêtrement des volumes, et du hiatus entre l'ancien et le moderne, ou plutôt entre le moderne et le contemporain.

Mandy said...

Saw your earlier photos of the flooding in Sydney.

Now please spare a thought for the people of Sheffield

Peter said...

Some of these old painted ads are really nice and should be saved!

This reminds me about some Dubonnet ads that you can still find in the metro tunnels. Maybe difficult to get a good photo... I will possibly try!

Peter said...

... and the Napoleon mystery? I just checked your post again and there is no clear answer! Frustrating!

Olivier said...

de tres belles peintures (enseignes) murales. preference pour la toute premiere, j'aime le regard du coureur, comme si il etait surpris de voir cette peinture ici.

jeremyDP said...

la 1ère me fait penser à celles qu'on peut trouver à Paris, genre Dubonnet ou autre. (merci pour le comment )

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

very interesting .......enjoyed your interpretation and the jogger sure looks a little surprised ...

Anonymous said...

Très belles photos (comme d'habitude^^). Quand je roule sur les routes de campagne, j'ai la nostalgie de ces peintures qui vantaient divers produits, dont des alcools... Aujourd'hui, elles meurent, même les joggeurs ne s'arrêtent plus.

freelancer said...

Très sympa le mélange des genres !

Sally said...

I really like the 3rd one best, and the mystery of it - why it was commissioned, etc. Is that the names of the artists in text across the blouse of the woman on the left?

lyliane six said...

La deuxième peinture a l'air de représenter la tenue de Crocodile Dundee!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed these. Thank you!

Cergie said...

Bravo pour le cadrage de la photo du haut
Les reflets magnifiques aussi
Celle du bas a un coté dramatique excellent avec cet homme qui s'encadre presque dans le creux de la bande
Il a l'air accablé...
Ce qui me frappe surtout c'est le contraste entre les immeubles très modernes et ceux plus anciens qui résistent vaillamment, mais oui. Pour combien de temps encore, on a besoin de toujours plus de surface de planchers pour moins de surface au sol...

claude said...

J'aime bien les vieilles enseignes. Connais-tu les auteurs des fresques du troisième mur ? Elles n'ont pas du tout le même style !

hpy said...

Bloguer fait regarder les murs d'un autre oeil.

Marie said...

Nice shots. I'd love to visit Sydney. Please say hello to my friend Alex Rusinko for me. :-)

DS2944 said...

Superbe série architecturale !!!
Quel tir groupé ....

Unknown said...

i remember going into gowings!

Lori said...

La première image me rappele New York. J'adore les anciens murales comme ça. Ils sont très intéressant. The last photo is funny with the fitness addict!

Bobby D. said...

these are amazing shots! I love them all, but the last big mural is very intriguing.

Bob Dylan said...

The last mural really inspired me--it reminded me of some statues and so I posted about women at work.
Your posting the mural really got me thinking, how decades go by and nothing changes for many many people.

Peter said...

Thanks for your answer about the "false Napoleon" on my blog today. I may make a small extra post about the "original" of this statue, which is on the Hermes building in Paris. (Maybe tomorrow.)

Bobby D. said...

I had to come back and show a friend this post.

she says

brava!

julia said...

Gowings catalogue, towards their demise, was great and the store as well, our diversity is on the way out.Its good that shopping is not my thing. You've done very well with this post! full marks!

rauf said...

Nathalie, you are better than a journalist. You go about getting information, details, some may cooperate some may not, you take all the trouble, take pictures for your readers and apart from pleasure, you get nothing for your efforts. i really
appreciate that in you Nathalie.

The murals have done their job. i love the jogger's picture most, his body language says he is impressed, surprised but doesn't have time to stop there for a second and enjoy the art.

pusa said...

beautiful murals and it always saddens me to know that a good establishment is closing due to lack of funds and modernization

Ming the Merciless said...

I love old murals like these. Glad to see they haven't been painted over or demolished.

Anonymous said...

j'aime beaucoup la 1ère avec tous ces croisements de ligne

Wanderer said...

the first pic has all of these interesting angles and textures and surfaces and lines...

nice shots!

Anonymous said...

"Gone to Gowings" was once a very well known slogan, Nathalie; but I wonder whether Simpsons was the store rather than the brand?

Bergson said...

des peintures murales qui nous changent des tags.
La première a une lumière extra
et la 3 éme me plait par ce joggueur qui semble ne plus avancé à cause de la fermeture éclair

Anonymous said...

With the exception of the last one, they seem very well preserved. In fact the Gowings one even looks as though it's been restored. I can't imagine it would all have remained intact. I like the idea of them being there as memories, but I hope the passing of the institutions has seen some worthy ones taking their place

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