Wollongong studio Redback Graphix fine-tuned the art of playfully getting politics into art in the 1980s

The 1980s was a decade that put the fun in fluoro, fully embraced the punk scene and symbolised the right to work.

It also birthed Redback Graphix, a Wollongong studio creating screen-printed posters.

The posters originally sold for a couple of dollars each, but they now sell for much more.

Hand-printing runs of 200 to 300 posters, founding members Gregor Cullen and Michael Callaghan worked with a team creating posters that have formed a legacy, with collections in Australia's best art institutions.

Redback: getting politics into art

Nick Southall worked for Redback as a technician.

"In Wollongong in the early 80s, there was this eruption of social activism," he said.

"We had things like the storming of federal parliament by miners and steel workers, we had mass meetings of miners and steel workers, we had the right to work march to Sydney, and we had Redback Graphix creating all this incredible artwork.

"We had people taking militant action around issues like unemployment and poverty, so there was this interesting punk scene and alternative subcultures.

Later, Southall's girlfriend, Sharon Pusell, started a traineeship at Redback with Alison Alder and Leonie Lane.

"We'd end up at Redback just to have a chat and look at the posters because they were amazing," Pusell said.

"My circle of friends was quite interested in politics and in art, political activism, and the whole thing about Redback was getting politics into art," Pusell said.

"The people I worked with were such great artists and so knowledgeable about the printing process."

Screen-prints were made by hand and generally had one colour per screen.

"We used hand-cut stencils and overlaid each colour," Pusell said.

Greetings from Wollongong

In 1980, Cullen met siblings Mary and Michael Callaghan (now deceased).

"Michael produced a lot of promotional posters for Mary's film, Greetings from Wollongong, with Steel City Pictures," Cullen said.

"From then on Michael and I clicked, our objectives were the same."

With support from Wollongong City Gallery and the South Coast Labour Council, Wollongong Council provided studio space.

"The Australia Council were really critical in getting us infrastructure, whilst other boards would fund a residency towards a stipend or a wage, the crafts council would fund capital equipment," Cullen reflected.

Five years later, the council wanted the building back and, after reaching out across the Illawarra, Redback reluctantly moved to Sydney.

"We weren't able to find another location in the Illawarra, so our facility packed up and went to Sydney," Cullen said.

Initially Cullen made the move, but his yearning for Wollongong brought him back to the Illawarra.

However, Redback Graphix continued printing until 1994.

"We were never paid very much, we never got anything out of it, there was no individual wealth generated, it wasn't a commercial private business," he said.

Politics at play

So much of Wollongong's story is told through coal, steel and sport, but Redback posters offered additional layers of storytelling, Cullen said.

"Acknowledgement goes to support from Wollongong City Gallery, who became a major client for the first five years of Redback," he said.

Having been created for previous exhibitions, many of the posters play a significant role in the gallery's history.

"We have a substantial holding, around 80, but the most holdings are in the National Gallery, who produced the monograph, as well as the University of Wollongong," Wollongong City Gallery director Daniel Mudie Cunningham said.

The unframed posters sit onsite in plan drawers.

Right now, Cunningham is curating next year's program, which includes a project that involves many of the Redback works.

As a new director, Cunningham demonstrates his commitment to local history and excellence in art making, so he's activating the Redback collection knowing they have been on and off display over many years.

"It's been a while since there's been a dedicated project around it, but what I like is all those P words, like politics, party, play, pop," he said.

"Redback have got that very political and playful pop cultural kind of aesthetic."

Cunningham hopes the project provides an opportunity to think about politics and important issues through the lens of play.

"A lot of the posters were about dances, you know, come to the dance at Port Kembla or the Wollongong Out of Workers Dance, for events that cost like $2 to enter," Cunningham laughed.