Subtopia

Adrian Doyle is the dynamic face of the urban art world in Melbourne - part artist, part academic, part entrepreneur and part social activist. In 2008 he set up The Blender Studios as a co-op for street artists. The old warehouse has become a hub of Australia's finest practitioners. He runs an enormously successful council program that gets 'young punks' to stop doing graffiti and instead 'beautify' the walls of Melbourne. All this is on top of his own art that is increasingly obsessed with the suburbia of his upbringing. He's not sure if he loves it or hates it but he has such a deep fascination with it that he's doing a PhD studying the aesthetics of suburbia. Doyle frustrates and excites the art establishment in equal measure. Many see him as a breath of fresh air, while others regard him as a pushy kid with a runaway ego. Doyle's girlfriend and business partner Piya is the brains behind the highly successful Melbourne Street Art Tours that operates out of the studios. With street art now the top tourist attraction in Melbourne, the couple have continuous media attention that has placed mounting pressure on their relationship. Their latest venture is a gallery called Dark Horse Experiment, a partnership with the Dickerson family, scions of the traditional art world, in an effort to bring wealthy collectors to street art. With multiple projects on the go, can Doyle manage to balance his bohemian lifestyle with his super strict girlfriend and the maelstrom of his fractured existence?

Sales at the gallery's first solo shows are lacklustre, so Doyle reinvents himself as a commercial mural artist, scoring a major commission for a 45-metre mural on the banks of the Yarra. But the gallery continues to struggle and the co-op really needs Doyle's upcoming solo show to be a hit. Doyle goes back into the studio to pump out ten pieces. Doyle travels home to Frankston - the suburb of his childhood - to visit his long-suffering father and sick mother. Terrible tragedies have befallen the Doyle family - the accidental drowning of his nephew (Doyle left the pool gate open) and the foreclosure of his parent's home. However Doyle has succeeded in exorcising these tragedies through his art. Stephen Nall, who manages the DHE, is confident that Doyle's show will make an impact - his previous shows have sold out. But opening night tells a different story. Doyle wants to keep the prestigious gallery but his partner Piya is reluctant to keep anything that isn't making money and tempers fray. Maybe opening a gallery in a post GFC world was a little naive after all? Art, life and commerce. Something's got to give...