We are now seeing retro signage becoming a bit of a collectors item because of the style, simplicity, durability and beauty of the base materials used. The Rosalie Gascoigne exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre | NGV is worth a look to see how signage ephemera has been turned into an artform particularly the yellow reflective road sign letters shown here. There’s a whole industry out there devoted to this type of ephemera; things like the tram destination blinds and the “original” Peter’s Icecream cone lights and the identity of old buildings often beneath coats of paint with advertisements in wonderful old text and fonts; and I’m tipping the numbers used at cricket clubs, football clubs and old petrol stations, black and white and made from metal. It’s got a bit to do with originality. We all in the end want original versions of everything even ourselves, and things that we can hold onto as memory of times past. The image here is an alternative use of the retro reflective roadwork signs made into a piece of artwork with the letters rearranged into words more meaningful. This exhibition is well worth a look along with the Rennie Ellis photos of the 1970s and 1980s being exhibited simultaneously. A wonderful trip down memory lane – loved the image of Robbie McGhie, a fairly rugged tattooed Richmond Football Player with cigarette and cup of beer in hand sitting on the MCG after the 1974 grandfinal. The Rennie Ellis exhibition is a good snapshot of Melbourne people and culture during the 70s and 80s. Our passion for sport particularly AFL football and horseracing, summertime at the beach, music festivals and concerts, alcohol, nightclubbing, nudity, and many other sources of entertainment. It reflects youthfulness at the time. In ways sordid but also exhibits our fairly relaxed attitude to living. King’s Cross is well featured here too.

Image and text courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria Website