The Gorilla Muralist: The full story of Mulga
Mulga, also known as Joel Moore, is a full-time artist who resides in Sydney, Australia with his wife, Sarah, and their three children. He has been dedicated to the art world since 2012, creating murals, collaborating with big brands, authoring picture books, and designing merchandise sold in his online store, Mulga the Artist. Mulga also licenses his artwork on various products with renowned brands.
Mulga has been drawing since school and during this time his addiction to doodling developed and the margins of his notebooks and textbooks have never recovered. Although a shy guy, Mulga's art talent became evident when his female classmates started to take notice of him in art classes.
During these school years, Mulga contemplated a career in art but hesitated to pursue it due to the perceived difficulty in making a decent living as an artist. Instead, he followed his passion for not being poor and studied finance at university. Mulga received his Bachelor's degree in Economics and worked as a paraplanner in financial planning before venturing into the art world. Despite his finance job, he continued to draw on post-it notes when he should have been working, it was a sign of things to come.
Mulga really started his journey as an artist by capturing his doodles and sketches and posting them regularly on his blog, mulgasroom.blogspot.com, starting in 2010.
Mulga really started his journey as an artist by capturing his doodles and sketches and posting them regularly on his blog, mulgasroom.blogspot.com, starting in 2010.
By 2012 his artwork started gaining attention, leading to his first significant break, an art exhibition at Space 44, a small art gallery in his hometown of Cronulla. Mulga teamed up with his brother Eden and hosted an art show called "Longbeards Anonymous Monkey Factory," which received positive feedback. At the art exhibition, he sold his first t-shirt, a screenprint of a bearded captain named Captain Monkey Pants.
Along with selling original artworks at his art show the t-shirts were quite the hit. To pursue his dream of having a job he loved and being his own boss, he started selling t-shirts at markets on weekends while working at his office job during the week.
He joined markets near his home in 2012, then later shifted to Bondi markets, where he had a stall most Sundays for two years. During this period, Mulga hustled hard to showcase his art in group art shows, network, and meet people in the Sydney art scene.
He painted his first mural at Bondi Beach in 2012, immediately after his first art exhibition, to get his artwork in front of more people. Since then, he has painted regularly at the art wall at Bondi Beach and currently has a Mulgakongz mural on display.
After two years of hosting his market stall on weekends things were going so swimmingly that Mulga was in a position to quit his day job and became a full-time artist. In addition to success in selling his art and merchandise at market stalls he quickly attracted the attention of big brands looking to collaborate with an artist that could offer something unique and different.
After two years of hosting his market stall on weekends things were going so swimmingly that Mulga was in a position to quit his day job and became a full-time artist. In addition to success in selling his art and merchandise at market stalls he quickly attracted the attention of big brands looking to collaborate with an artist that could offer something unique and different.
Over the years, Mulga has worked on countless creative projects, from painting murals and designing products to developing marketing campaigns and brand activations. He has collaborated with some of the world's biggest companies, including Samsung, Coca Cola, Red Bull, Microsoft, and Lego, to name a few.
Mulga's artwork has graced everything from Havaianas thongs (flip flops) to Speedo swimmers, and he has created murals for Red Bull in bars and offices. One of his national campaigns for Coca-Cola involved animating his art and painting murals in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.
Additionally, he has collaborated with Slurpee on artwork for their cups and has worked on numerous projects with Samsung, such as creating wallpapers for phones, various product launches, painting murals, artwork for a bus and even designing a Samsung Snapchat filter. He has painted a BMW, crafted Lego artworks and his art can be seen on a grain silo for Kellogg's.
Moreover, Mulga has painted over 100 murals in schools, brightening up the learning environment for children and inspiring their creativity. In addition to his commercial work, Mulga has also exhibited his art in galleries and hosted workshops for aspiring artists.
Moreover, Mulga has painted over 100 murals in schools, brightening up the learning environment for children and inspiring their creativity. In addition to his commercial work, Mulga has also exhibited his art in galleries and hosted workshops for aspiring artists.
Today, Mulga's unique style and creative vision have made him a sought-after artist in Australia and around the world. His work has been featured in numerous publications, and he continues to push the boundaries of art and creativity with each new project.
Mulga's proudest achievement is being able to provide for his family by doing something that he loves and believes in. He continues to inspire others through workshops and his online presence, encouraging creativity and positivity in all aspects of life. Mulga's commitment to his craft and ability to bring joy and inspiration to others make him a force to be reckoned with in the art world.