Anyone who’s ever visited the little town of Maleny, 90km north of Brisbane, will remember it well – the settlement nestled in the mountains is a melting pot of ageing hippies, organic yuppies and swarming tourists, set against a backdrop of psychedelic graffiti and ‘happy herb’ stores. It’s no surprise then, that one of Australia’s most bizarre towns was the childhood home of the country’s street-cum-pop artist Ben Frost.

The now Sydney-based artist has courted controversy throughout his career – from his work ‘White Children Playing: Late 1900’s’ depicting children shooting-up drugs, to his famous art prank ‘Ben Frost is Dead’ in 2000, faking his own death, he’s been described as a ‘culturally confrontational and wildly irrepressible’ artist. His visually dynamic paintings (some will make your head spin!) are collage mash-ups of cartoon characters, popular logos and branding (Disney, Levis, Coca Cola and Pokemon have all featured in his pieces), savagely critiquing a society which is obsessed with modern brands.

So it’s with open arms that we welcome Ben back to Sydney – after a stint of exhibiting overseas, the artist has been holed up in his Surry Hills studio ‘Worlds End’, preparing for his ‘Lost in the Supermarket’ exhibition at Boutwell Draper Gallery in Redfern. If you catch one city art exhibition this month, make it this one – guaranteed to humour, shock, and stimulate – visit http://www.boutwelldrapergallery.com.au/exhibitions.php for more details.

Amy xx