Mowbray Public School was completely rebuilt a few years ago in response to the rapidly expanding local population. But along with an explosion in student numbers, so too comes an explosion in noise levels! For the comfort of nearby residents, a noise reduction barrier was erected between the school playground and the private homes that back onto the grounds. This huge, 25-metre long, 3-metre tall wall was the perfect blank canvas. Hugues suggested that the barrier be decorated to reflect the diverse and multicultural backgrounds of the students, and so the concept of ‘Doors of the World’ was born. The mural features seven mock doorways, each representing seven different countries from five different continents: Australia, Morocco, Mexico, France, Indonesia, China and Greece. The colourful pseudo streetscape is a bright, welcome addition to the Mowbray playgrounds area.

Hugues was approached by Trish Gibson, Head of Languages at Shore, to help create a more immersive and inspiring environment for the many students who use the languages block of the school. Taking inspiration from the languages taught there, Hugues was charged with capturing the spirit of French, German, Japanese, Chinese and Latin cultures in his flowing work through the internal ground floor corridors and staircase, while also paying homage to the traditional owners of the land on which Shore is situated, the Cammeraygal people. In consultation with each of the language teachers, the mural flows organically through the space, visually linking the various cultures together.

“We extend a warm thank you to Mr Sineux for his careful attention to detail, his flexibility in implanting our ideas and his fine workmanship.” - Trish Gibson, Head of Languages, Shore Grammar School.

All-boys primary school Mosman Prep approached Hugues to help revitalise their exterior grounds, specifically to brighten up two long plain walls spanning the length of the courtyard area. The school was keen for the two murals to feature a fun, sporting theme, so Hugues captured images of young students in action playing cricket and rugby, immersed in their play. As the walls were so long, Hugues was also keen to add additional depth, using trompe-l’oeil techniques to create the illusion of sandstone and cast-iron fencing which perfectly blends the wall in with the garden landscape behind it.

Once these exterior murals were complete, Hugues was then commissioned to revitalise the undercover canteen area. As this was a more modern space, part of a more recently built section of the school, the school community were keen to embrace a very different and highly colourful style of mural. Taking inspiration from mid-century Australian artist Grace Crawley, Hugues created a striking abstract pattern that flows right across the space, bookended with captivating images of two boys; one concentrating on writing out the menu for the canteen, and another dressed as a precocious young bellboy directly outside the entrance to the elevator.

Orange Grove Public, nestled in the inner city suburb of Lilyfield, approached Hugues to brighten up one of their older buildings that flanks the main playground. Inspired by the unique shape of the red brick structure, Hugues turned the exterior into a small country town train stop, complete with period signage and architectural details. A cheerful green steam train runs the length of the mural, featuring a number of carriages including an animal-filled wagon on its way to the zoo! The mural wraps around to finish with a small ticket office, where a young boy eagerly waits to be served. The school’s General Assistant graciously turned Hugues' painted station clock into the real thing by building in a real clock mechanism.

Exterior mural of approx. 200m in length on brick - September – December 2016

This grand public work, commissioned by Mayor Steve Russell of the Hornsby Shire Council, is located in the west of the suburb.

Dural Lane is a busy thoroughfare opposite Hornsby Train Station, off Peats Ferry Road. Despite being unique in its style, as it still features many old heritage buildings and facades, the laneway had become quite sad and dingy over the years, plagued by graffiti and general neglect. The Council was keen to find a way to revitalise this area for the many locals who use the laneway every day, as well as combating the growing presence of grafitti vandalism. 

In consultation with Mayor Russell, Hugues set about to reinvigorate Dural Lane, using Hornsby's vibrant history as inspiration. Paying homage to the area's heritage, the extensive trompe l'oeil scene extends roughly 200 metres in length and features a vintage, two-storey street scene of traditional shop fronts, retro signage and architectural elements including windows and doorways. The centrepiece of the mural is a homage to the iconic Australian comic strip character Ginger Meggs. Created by Hornsby resident Jimmy Bancks in the 1920s, the red-haired mischief-maker Meggs was based on Bancks' childhood friend and Hornsby local Charlie Somerville, who went on to become a prominent businessman and councillor. 

The Dural Lane mural has garnered extensive praise, and has had fantastic feedback from locals who have been thrilled with the lane's transformation into a light, bright and jovial celebration of local heritage.   

Photographs courtesy of Bruce Thompson.

Interior mural works - Normandy, France 2016

In 2016, the Atelier Sineux Frères (a studio headed by Hugues and his brother Jean-François) was commissioned by the Normandy village of Francheville and the local Archdiocese to repaint the interior of the village's heritage listed 16th century church. 

Originally decorated by Italian painter Just Michelli in 1896, the church's interior featured a stunning array of decorative flourishes and religious iconography that was sadly succumbing to the ravages of age.

Hugues and Jean-François set about the painstaking task of replicating Michelli's work once the builders had made extensive repairs to the building. While not an official restoration (due to the building's extreme decay), the artists took great care to mimic the wonderful original paintings in as much detail as possible, to preserve the original artist's intent for this historical building.

The village hope the painted works inside their reinvigorated and significant church will last another 120 years for their community.

A fun fact: Michelli was also modernist painter Fernand Léger's art teacher. 

This lively mural is Hugues' second commission from Marrickville Council's highly lauded 'Perfect Match' program, which matches muralists with local residents and business owners looking to revitalise their public spaces with a vibrant work of public art.

Hugues had a fantastic experience working with Yaron Hallis, the exuberant owner of inner west jazz venue Camelot Lounge and frontman of the award-winning Gypsy fusion band Monsieur Camembert.

Inspired by the film Le Bal, this mural also draws on the cubist work of Sonia Delaunay to create a merry ballroom scene in full swing, attended by an eclectic bunch of characters drawn in stylized forms.  A homage to all the dance halls and music venues that have withstood the test of time, it adorns the wall of one of Sydney’s iconic music lounges.

This is the rear entrance to a private residence in Sydney's hip Newtown neighbourhood. Hugues worked with the family to find a suitable subject matter that would help brighten up the otherwise dreary and graffiti-plagued inner city laneway.

This mural was part of Marrickville Council's inaugural 'Perfect Match' street art program. Property owners and artists are brought together to create unique and vibrant murals for otherwise unadorned public spaces. The program was devised to help foster the local area's street art scene while at the same time discouraging illegal and unwanted graffiti and tagging. 

A long, uninspiring wall which runs the length of the school playground was in desperate need of a face lift. Using the dual inspirations of the older sandstone buildings nearby and the iconic Bondi Beach on the other side of the fence, Hugues set about to revitalise the playground's outlook by creating a stunning trompe l'oeil scene to inspire and brighten the students' lunchtime. Specially mounted timber cut-outs mean a flock of seagulls and a couple of cheeky pelicans look down onto the courtyard from their perches on the roof. 

Inspired by the bush surrounds, Hugues revitalised the tired, boxy weatherboard home of this cute little preschool in the Sutherland Shire. Oversized birds - rainbow lorikeets, a finch and a kookaburra - now dominate the exterior, punctuated by colourful foliage. A fun, Aussie inspired transformation!

Built on the site of a former dairy farm, it made sense to design a wrap-around barnyard landscape for this large school building in Hornsby's south. This scene, with its bright red tractor and friendly farm animals, was a hit with the young students. If you look closely, you'll notice the addition of a mock attic facade (a painted timber screen affixed to the roof) gives the many painted pigeons somewhere to roost!

Exterior mural of approx. 14m x 8m on brick - February 2017

As Roseville Public School, on Sydney's North Shore, has grown substantially over the years, it features buildings of varying ages and architectural styles. The library block built in the 90s, is centrally located within the school grounds, and its end wall faces into the main playground. Hugues had the wonderful opportunity to transform this enormous brick facade into a grand theatre stage.

The first step was to give the brickwork an overall patina to help the building blend more cohesively with the surrounding buildings. Then, a beautiful trompe l'oeil scene was painted, turning the foreboding and featureless brick wall into a lively outdoor theatre, complete with grand windows, performing students and red velvet curtains. In the centre, a young girl pops her head out from backstage, and a selection of decorative architectural elements completes the fresco.

Photographs courtesy of Bruce Thompson.

Willoughby Public School is located on Sydney's North Shore. Hugues completed two murals for the school, one on the exterior of a beautiful old building within the grounds and another within the entrance to the students' toilet block.

Bedtime Story, the external mural, is a whimsical night-time scene featuring a troupe of animal characters, including a very impressive elephant tenor, putting on a musical performacne on an open stage in a fairytale landscape.

Animal Portrait Gallery, the internal mural, evokes a grand country house hall within the covered entrance to the boys and girls bathrooms. The high-ceiling interior was painted to ressemble wallpapered walls covered in paintings of Australian wildlife. Classical animal portraits sit alongside bright pop art inspired works, and all beneath a plywood cut-out chandelier! The entryway to the boys toilets sports a dapper kangaroo, while the entryway to the girls toilets features a playful emu.

Hugues returned to Willoughby in 2017 to complete an exterior mural, wrapping around a staircase in the playground. Representing a fun play house of sorts, the scene depicts over-sized books stacked in and around an array of faux windows and doors.

Hugues has brought to life several murals at Warrawee Public School, commissioned between 2015 and 2018.

His most recent artwork decorates the science classroom, which has transformed the interior into a vintage spaceship, surrounding students with space equipment and a telescope and offering them a view into make-believe space.

Earlier works on the school grounds can be seen on one of their demountable buildings, featuring a bush landscape, and a wrap-around mural of the student toilet block which transformed it into an imaginary ferry called "The Warrawee", that allows students to escape on a nautical adventure during playtime!

The school's library also features a magical fairytale landscape complete with soaring castle and books flying through the air in all directions. Outside another school building has been transformed into a "treehouse", with a painted footbridge giving the illusion of depth, leading to miniature version of the school, nestled in the treetops, tying the brick building into the school's surrounding natural environment. 

Photographs of the school library and 'Treehouse' are courtesy of Bruce Thompson. 

Exterior murals of approx. 15m x 3m on brick (library) and 6m x 3m on metal and brick (storage building) - April 2016

In 2016, Hugues was commissioned by Carlingford West Primary, situated in Sydney's greater Hills district, to paint two murals; one for the school's library and another on a prominent storage building. 

The library's long exterior now features a playful array of colourful books, flapping and flying through the skies, high above our world. The storage building features a beautiful Australian bush landscape, populated with native flora and fauna. 

The unlikely inspiration for the school's entrance mural (approx. 25 x 3 meters) came from the dozens and dozens of scooters that many Northbridge children ride to school each morning. This wall stretches out along from the main entrance to the grounds into the central playground, with a bike and scooter parking area to the far side. The Principal wanted to capture some of the vitality and frenetic activity thatgoes on each morning as the kids descend on the school, playing and laughing before the start of their school day. The wheels of the scooters banked up at the edge of the playground became the central inspiring motif in this particular mural design, while the school uniform inspired the colour palette. This is one peice in a series of six murals completed by the artist within the school.

Another of the murals at the school is The Clock Tree. Displaying Hugues' versatility, The Clock Tree is a fantastical piece that livens up an otherwise plain brick wall, with a playful take on the nature of time in the life of a young student!

Work: La Fille à la Marelle (Hopscotch Girl) mineral paint on cement; approx. 3 x 3 metres
Location: Residential Building,Caen, France
Client: Private Commission (through the building’s Body Corporate)
Year: 2003

This residential block sits alongside a local primary school in the centre of Caen. The retired school teacher who lived in the top floor apartment of this building would often look out at the playground beneath and lament the lack of colour and interest in the environment for the students.

For the benefit of those school children, the retiree convinced the other residents of her buillding to commission a gift that would enliven the local landscape and provide a fun, inspiring point of interest for the school community.

The inspiration for the image itself was provided by Hugues' own niece, who he spied one day from a first floor window, playing hopscotch on the street below.

Since the mural was completed, the image has become a popular local landmark inextricably linked to the primary school below.