1965 - present

Droogie is a long-time graffiti artist and muralist who’s had a lifelong connection with the Bondi Beach Sea Wall. He was born and bred in Bondi and first painted a design on the wall in 1985, when he was 19. His nom de plume ‘Droogie’ is a reference to the characters the ‘Droogs’ who featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, and coincidentally, his first mural on the sea wall was a depiction of images from the movie. Since then, he’s created more than 100 designs on the wall.

Over the years, he’s done extensive work with the Bondi community, delivering many projects with WAYS Youth Services to enable young and at-risk children to use art as an outlet.

In a rare move, Waverley Council has proclaimed permanency for two Bondi Graffiti Wall masterpieces, and both are Droogie’s. The first is the Anzac Memorial Mural, which he painted in 2003 using a photo a Bondi ‘digger’ (war veteran) had given him. The text accompanying the image is “25th.4.1915 | A.N.Z.A.C | LEST WE FORGET”.

His purpose in creating the artwork was to commemorate “the sacrifice of so many men and women to preserve our liberties and our way of life”. Being an ex-serviceman, he found the idea of the mural especially poignant.

The second artwork the council has honoured with permanency is the Chloe Memorial Mural, which Droogie also pained in 2003. Fifteen-year-old Chloe Byron was one of the 202 Australians who lost their life during the ‘Bali Bombings’ that occurred at the Sun Club on Kuta Beach on 12 October 2002. Council commissioned Droogie to create a memorial to her and to include a list of the many victims of the tragedy. Along with the list of names and a portrait of Chloe, he included a view of the beach, a longboard and an array of frangipani flowers. The artwork has since become a beloved part of the Bondi landscape, as a depiction and reflection of elements of the active beach culture that was such an important part of Chloe’s life while she was growing up in Bondi. Droogie was especially honoured to be commissioned to memorialise her.

The artist forever known as Droogie has based his artistic career on the idea of beautifying the local community for everyone to enjoy and on trying to “improve our youth and society through art”.