Meet the mysterious street artist behind Canberra's Mario-inspired markers

The plumbing brothers and their sidekicks have appeared beside Lake Burley Griffin, on Lonsdale Street, the Kings Avenue Bridge and Gungahlin Drive.

The man behind the street art first spotted in the ACT in August has agreed to speak to The Canberra Times under the condition of anonymity.

While keeping his smile behind a mask, Canberra's Banksy, aka Johnny Sayless, hoped to bring some cheer after a tough 2020.

Sayless has made his mark on the capital after recently moving from Queensland.

"There's so much fear and so much stress in the community with COVID," Sayless said.

"With young kids, when there's stress in the homes and stress in the family, I think it's really important for them to get a little break."

The first break from reality and trip into 1990s nostalgia came in the form of Mario looking up at passers-by from a concrete pipe on Gungahlin Drive.

To the dismay of its Canberra fans, Mario mysteriously went missing just weeks after the piece went up.

Suspicions over what happened to the art varied online from "the grinch that attacks the Moruya Stumpy Family" to "point-scoring politicians worried about Mario's popularity" in the lead-up to ACT election. His whereabouts, however, remains a mystery.

This week, Sayless appeared to pull the wool over Canberra's collective eyes once again by sneakily putting Bowser, the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race, up in his place.

His movements seemingly undetected, an ACT City Services spokesperson advised no agreement existed with Sayless to produce the work, although, a discussion was under way.

In recent months, 25 street artists received grants to assist them during the pandemic, with large-scale collaborative pieces soon to be revealed at several locations, including the old PCYC building in Turner, on Brierly Street in Weston Creek, at the TCCS Kambah Depot and at Aranda sporting pavilion.

Canberra street artist Geoff Filmer said several legal walls splattered throughout the suburbs had helped transform Canberra's street art scene.

Mr Filmer said while kids still graffitied public spaces, the sanctioned walls within biking distance of most burgeoning artists' homes meant the less legal art was getting better.

The ACT government has provided almost 30 of these walls in Canberra, including a toilet block at Lyneham Primary School and a wall beside the skate park in Braddon.

Mr Filmer said while sanctioned spaces weren't uncommon, including Melbourne's famous Hosier Lane, Canberra did it better than most.

"A lot of cities don't have the quantity so people become very territorial of those spaces," he said.

"In Canberra, the kids who have saved up their $20 for their couple of cans of spraypaint will see their piece last for some time rather than be painted over after no time at all."

Mr Filmer said the trail has been blazed in Canberra's street art community by now nationally known artists including John Voir, Byrd and George Rose.

READ ALSO:

He said despite having a bucket load of talent already, the city's scene had room for newcomer Sayless.

"I think it's fantastic! Bring it on! He's doing some high-profile spots!" Mr Filmer said.

The Canberra street-art veteran pointed to a location in Fyshwick, where Sayless has painted his name three times on three peaked roofs.

"And it's a church," Mr Filmer said.

"He would've been up there for a little while."

Mr Filmer extended the kudos to the Donkey Kong on Kings Bridge, while acknowledging putting up a cardboard cutout was a little less hectic than painting on a church roof.

"But that's Russell, like, that's Defence people. It would've been red hot to put up. I'm interested to see where he goes next."

Sayless said Canberra's grid layout and relatively low-density lent itself to more Mario spotting.

"After I've created pieces I have been there and watched people's reactions to them," he said.

"As long as it's positive I'll keep creating."