ALEXANDRIA HOTEL, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

THE RIDERS

“The riders” was painted on the Alexandria hotel in the shadow of the Waterloo Public housing estate. In 2015, the LNP government in NSW marked the building for re-development, leaving many low-income families worried they will be pushed out of the area.   

Painted in a bevelled glass technique, the riders appear broken up out of focus and distant. The work depicts the youth as transient, asking where displaced public housing residents will go as more public land is sold off within the city.

The mural highlights the ongoing issue of gentrification in Sydney and how the cities working young are ignored by housing policy and pushed further into the suburbs, creating a disconnect between its most productive residents and economic opportunity.