There’s been a real vacuum in Surry Hills since the Hopetoun hotel’s surprise closure in September.

The old fold-back doors are boarded up – they were always perfect for the kind of summer afternoons we’re shaping up for. You can just imagine the kind of forlorn looks locals give the place every day.

Well enough is enough. One of our favourite street artists in this town, Zap, kicked off a one-man cultural reclamation this week, on one of those boarded up doors at the corner of Bourke and Fitzroy Streets.

It’s a fairly abstracted, Madvillain-esque character, and it’s one of the coolest Zap paste-ups I’ve seen.

There’s a new Zap paste-up on Fitzroy Street, near the corner of South Dowling Street – opposite the Cricketer’s Arms hotel – in Surry Hills.

This one’s got some extraterrestrial space funk vibes.

We have to
get out of here
Zap the monster
hand is going
to take us
to the galazy
of giants
we are ants
there

A reference to Sun Ra, P-Funk, or the graffitiist’s ’80s funk name sake, Zapp?

I know, I know. We’re at risk of becoming a Zap fan blog. But occasionally you come across someone who’s doing something cool, right at the moment they’re doing it.