Incinerator Gallery - Melbourne - Free art exhibitions on now

Gallery open

Open Tuesday to Sunday
Free entry
11am - 4pm

First Nations EOI - remove 3 Feb 2025

First Nations
Public Art Commission
Shortlist announced

Now showing

Kieran Butler, A Gift of Cherry Guavas and Hibiscus Flowers, 2025 16x9 Landscape 300dpi

A Gift of Cherry Guavas and Hibiscus Flowers: Part 1

1 February 2025 - 30 March 2025

Boadle Hall

John Brooks, Always Arriving, Never There, 2021, video still

From things flow what we call time

1 February 2025 - 30 March 2025

The Atrium

Patrick McDavitt, Straitlines, 2019, installation view (3)

CHTHONIC CHORUS

1 February 2025 - 30 March 2025

Main Gallery

Coming soon

Nicholas Currie, to grow is to learn, 2024, acrylic and inkjet photo on canvas crop

Big Smart

12 April 2025 - 8 June 2025

Incinerator Gallery

TPP Website feature 1920x7002

The Playground Project Melbourne

28 June 2025 - 12 October 2025

Incinerator Gallery

Programs and Events

MDW 28 05 2024 (10)

Art Club

Thursdays, 10 to 11.30 am

Free – tickets required

24 April | 22 May | 24 Jul | 21 Aug | 18 Sept | 23 Oct

Incinerator History Tours

11.00 am to 12.00 pm

Free — tickets required

17 Apr | 10 May | 5 Jun

Community Groups welcome, bookings by appointment

Arkie Barton, untitled, 2025, acrylic and diamanates on canvas

Yarning Circle: Big Smart

17 May, 2pm

Free — Tickets essential

Showing in Moonee Valley

GRPhoto IncineratorMurals HIRES 8

It’s a home to me: David Booth

31 August 2024 - 3 September 2029

Cooper Street Community Centre, 101 Cooper Street, Essendon

MV council Arcade way reserve Mural doc 022 1

Arcade Way Reserve Public Art Project: Ash Firebrace

15 August 2022 - 16 August 2027

Arcade Way Reserve, Keilor East

Arts Project Indigenous Art Project 2003

Indigenous Arts Project: Paola Balla

1 May 2003 -

FJ Davies Reserve (Centreway) Keilor East

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Last month, we hosted our annual Art Bus tour, travelling to each of Moonee Valley's offsite exhibitions at Crown Street Stables, Avondale Heights Library and Niddrie Library.

Explore the works by our talented local artists before the exhibitions close on 9 December (L-R):

'Annual Exhibition' at Avondale Heights Library
In this new exhibition, the Wingate Avenue Art Group celebrates its members' love of art, learning, and their shared joy in community. Members, stemming from diverse backgrounds, share a common desire for creative expression and skills development.

'Himalaya: A Journey into Upper Mustang, Nepal' at Crown Street Stables
This exhibition of paintings and prints by artist John Barcham documents his recent impressions of the Himalayas in the Upper Mustang region of Nepal, through painting and lithograph printing.

'Pages from the Codex Theonicz' at Niddrie Library
In this exhibition, artist Katie Theodorus draws inspiration from Medieval manuscripts, particularly the enigmatic Voynich Manuscript. Unreadable yet vaguely familiar, it reflects today's challenge of interpreting vast amounts of information.

'Sentient Worlds' at Niddrie Library
In this exhibition, artist Romy Durrant presents a series of oil paintings celebrating the freedom of expression beyond societal boundaries and expectations. Romy is a neurodivergent artist who identifies as disabled. In describing how social environments can be overwhelming, she says “My imagination is my best coping tool.”

Photography by Gianna Rizzo @meaty

Learn more about the artists and exhibitions via the link in our bio.

Melbourne-based artist Laetitia Olivier-Gargano's exhibition of hyper-surreal sculptures is opening this Friday in our Atrium space.

'Planting a garden in my head' is inspired by Japanese suiseki or scholar’s rocks that are valued for their aesthetic qualities. Laetitia creates compositions of organic matter in the form of rocks and food that can also be meditated on for their pleasing aesthetic qualities. The seemingly meaningless, mundane stone, or perhaps a hamburger, is elevated through the act of it’s being exhibited.

The exhibition utilises playful combinations of domestic items to examine nostalgia, optimism, nihilism, and the messy bouquet of life.

This Friday's exhibition opening night, with speeches and a Welcome to Country, will be held at Incinerator Gallery alongside exhibitions 'Body Field', 'Fireworks 2024' and 'Bright Sparks 2024'.

Entry is FREE. RSVP via the link in our bio.

@laetitia_oliviergargano

Image: Laetitia Olivier-Gargano, 'Planting a garden in my head', 2024.

#incineratorgallery #melbournegallery #mooneevalley #sculptures #suiseki #SuisekiArt #ArtAndNature #MelbourneArt #HyperSurrealism

We are thrilled to announce the completion of our latest public art project, ‘It’s a home to me’.

The bright and cheerful mural by artist David Booth (@ghostpatrol), celebrates the unique character of Cooper Street Community Centre in Essendon, and the vibrant community it serves. The mural’s design weaves together narratives that reflect the Centre’s diverse activities, including gymnastics, yoga, meditation, kids' ballet, and karate.

Drawing inspiration from the surrounding sports fields, local wildlife, and the nearby suburbs of Aberfeldie and Moonee Ponds, the artwork captures a snapshot of the neighbourhood. Its layered elements invite new discoveries with each visit, unified by a blue band symbolising the Maribyrnong River—a vital waterway in the northwestern suburbs that sustains native fauna and has become a recreational hub for Moonee Valley residents and visitors alike.

We'd like to extend a special thank you to members of the Moonee Valley YMCA Gymnastics Club and the residents of Moonee Valley City Council for their participation in the workshops, which helped realise this artwork. This project is an initiative of Igniting Creativity 23-27, Moonee Valley City Council’s Arts and Culture Strategy.

View the full video, detailing the design and execution process and captured by On Jackson Street on the project webpage. Linked in bio.

David Booth is represented by Hugo Michell Gallery (@hugomichellgallery).

on_jacksonstreet
@mvgc_ymca/
@cityofmooneevalley
@ymcavictoria

#incineratorgallery #communitymural #mural #publicart #mooneevalley #ymca

Join us at opening night this Friday from 6pm to celebrate Moonee Valley's young creatives!

'Fireworks' is our annual exhibition for art and design students in Years 11 and 12, featuring works across various media including drawing, painting, fashion and sculpture.

'Bright Sparks' is a poster exhibition for students in Prep to Year 10. This year, students were asked to submit posters in response to the theme ‘Let’s Make Food Magic!’ and were encouraged to draw, paint or collage their favourite foods. These dynamic and inspired artworks are a celebration of self-expression and creativity.

Come along to view the work and be there for the announcement of our award winners. This year, the Fireworks Art and Design Awards will be presented by artist and arts educator Fiona Cabassi, and artist and arts therapist, Xiang Li.

The opening night, with speeches and a Welcome to Country, will be held at Incinerator Gallery from 6-8pm, alongside exhibitions 'Planting a garden in my head' 'Body Field'.

Entry is FREE. RSVP via the link in our bio.

Images:
1. Issabella Zhang, 'Cat's dessert dream', 2024, colour pencil on paper.
2. Audrey Jarick, 'Two trees and a dog, I saw you drop the fruit bowl', 2024.

@cityofmooneevalley

Details at website
#incineratorgallery #melbournegallery #fireworks #StudentArt #YouthCreatives #ArtExhibition #GalleryOpening #ArtAwards #FireworksExhibition #brightsparks #artstudents #creative

Our latest billboard project installation displayed outside Incinerator Gallery is artist Ezz Monem's photographic series, 'The Pyramid Postcards: Following the Policeman'.

In this iteration of the series, Ezz, a photo-based artist from Egypt, explores authority, surveillance, and tourism through the juxtaposition of the Egyptian Pyramids and the figure of an anonymous local policeman.

In 2014, Google Street View technology expanded to document some historic locations in Egypt, including the Pyramids. A policeman accompanied the Google Street View team during this process, resulting in his unexpected appearance in the online images. Ezz edited these photographs to remove other spectators, leaving the lone policeman as the sole figure representing authority.

These photographs invert the usual order of authority in Egypt, where citizens are under constant surveillance in public spaces and online. Here, the viewer assumes a panoptic role, engaging in counter-surveillance where the watcher is, in turn, watched.

The artist's auto ethnographic work draws on his background growing up in Egypt and his experience migrating to Australia.

Showing until Sunday 19 January.

Images:
1. Ezz Monem, The Pyramid Postcards: Following the Policeman #4, 2018-2019, photograph.
2. Ezz Monem, The Pyramid Postcards: Following the Policeman #11, 2018-2019, photograph.
Photography by Gianna Rizzo @meaty

#incineratorgallery #publicart #billboardproject #melbournegallery #mooneevalley #MelbourneArt #ArtInstallation #ContemporaryPhotography

@ezzmonem

Opening soon!

Join us next Friday, 6 December from 6-8pm for the opening night and awards ceremony of our four summer exhibitions.

⭐’Fireworks’
Fireworks, now in its twelfth year, Fireworks spotlights the achievements of Years 11 and 12 art and design students from Moonee Valley. Prizes to be awarded at the opening are Fireworks Art Award, Fireworks Design Award, Mayoral Award for Excellence in Art and Mayoral Award for Excellence in Design.

⭐’Bright Sparks’
This year's Bright Sparks poster exhibition theme is 'Let's Make Food Magic'. Moonee Valley Prep to Year 10 students were asked to draw or collage their favourite foods. Prizes to be awarded at the opening are the Mayoral Award for Bright Sparks and Incinerator Bright Sparks Award.

⭐’Planting a garden in my head’
This exhibition presents a suite of new hyper-surreal sculptures exploring the meditative qualities of suburban reality, inspired by Japanese suiseki or scholar’s rocks.

⭐’Body Field’
In this exhibition, artist Olivia Chin delves into themes of rest, chronic illness, and the interplay between the human body and the natural world.

Judging the awards will be artist and registered arts therapist Xiang Li, and artist and visual arts educator Fiona Cabassi.
Entry to opening night is FREE.
Light refreshments provided.
#incineratorgallery #exhibition #melbournegallery #fireworks #brightsparks #mooneevalley #art

Image credits:
1. Audrey Jarick, 'Two trees and a dog, I saw you drop the fruit bowl', 2024.
2. Issabella Zhang, 'Cat's dessert dream', 2024, colour pencil on paper.
3. Laetitia Olivier-Gargano, 'Lunchtime Arrangement', 2024.
4. Olivia Chin, 'Fog in the landscape at Shark Island KV (detail)', 2023, oil on linen.

We are pleased to announce that the winner of this year's ‘Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change’ People's Choice Award is Cecilia Sordi Campos for her poignant installation work 'the motherhood that wasn't'.

The project is grounded in the complexities of the artist’s experiences of infertility. As a woman of colour who is unable to give birth, the artist utilises art to consider what infertility can signify in different socio-cultural contexts.

Using menstrual blood as a drawing medium, the artist aims to uncover ways that it can be used both aesthetically and for political expression to serve as a record of catharsis, and mourning over the choice her body took from her.

Cecilia's artwork aims for an affective and empathic response to an issue that is subjugated by shame and underrepresented in the creative and public spheres.

Huge congratulations to Cecilia and to all of this year's shortlisted artists on their powerful works inspiring social change and healthier futures.

Images: Cecilia Sordi Campos, ‘the motherhood that wasn’t’, 2024, digitised lumen prints printed on acetate. Lumen print process: expired photographic paper, Kozo paper, menstrual blood, fresh flowers, fresh fruit, dirt. Photography by Gianna Rizzo @meaty

@ceciliasordicampos

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

Artist Zena Cumpston’s triptych artwork encodes and enacts the holistic knowledge of Barkandji people, illuminating symbiotic relationships with plant and animal kin.

Over millennia, they have found ingenious ways of working together with Country in reciprocity, always giving back as they take. Their Ngatji (rainbow serpents) embody ancient scientific knowledge of how they must care for their lifeblood, the Barka (Darling River).

This deep knowledge is viewed as a mere fairytale by those who hold power. Ngatji are depicted as dollar signs, reflecting the devastating commodification of Barkandji Country and lifeblood.

Throughout her work Zena calls out as a calling in, insisting knowledge of Country and custodial responsibility is meaningfully respected, not crossed out and negated.

Zena’s work is featured in our current ‘Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change’.

Image: Zena Cumpston, ‘ngayi - I call out to you’, 2024, linocut collage on Fabriano paper painted with kopi (pigment from the artist’s Country). Photography by Gianna Rizzo

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

‘MultiSpecies Convergence’ explores the interconnections between the natural world, humanity, and the rapidly advancing technological landscape from a post-human perspective.

In this work, Yandell Walton merges a 3D-modeled plant — extracted from a forest through photogrammetry — with human form and movement captured using Motion Capture technology.

This blending of organic and artificial invites viewers to reconsider traditional boundaries and imagine a future where distinctions between these realms blur and dissolve.

Showing as part of the Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change. Open until Sunday 24 November.

Yandell Walton, ‘MultiSpecies Convergence’, 2023, custom steel frame, LED video modules with moving image looped.

@yandellw

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

It's the final weekend to view the 27 works in our tenth 'Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change' exhibition.

The exhibition, which spans the entire site of Incinerator Gallery, features astounding artworks that inspire social change and healthier futures. Thank you to all who have visited the exhibition thus far—there's still time to vote for the People's Choice Award, to be announced next Thursday, 28 November.

Tomorrow's participatory human board game event 'Til Kingdom Come, Which Side Are You On?' with artist Jacqui Gordon is happening outside Incinerator Gallery over two sessions-11am and 2pm.

Register for your FREE ticket via the link in our bio.

Images:
1. Incinerator Art Award, 2024, installation view of artworks by Cecelia Sordi Campos and Keiran Butler. @ceciliasordicampos @kikihbebe

2. Incinerator Art Award, 2024, installation view of artworks by jemi gale with skramzwife, Fleur, Luyuan Zhang, Jess Tan, Marlo Mogensen, Matilda Davis, mararara, Gigi De Lacy, and Rumer Elisabetta Guario and Ari Angkasa. @ari___angkasa

3. Incinerator Art Award, 2024, installation view of artwork by Cecelia Sordi Campos @ceciliasordicampos

All photography by Gianna Rizzo @meaty

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

Merging sculpture with communal seating, artist Tay Haggerty’s artwork was created in collaboration with the Queer Art Collective youth group at Burrinja Cultural Centre.

‘Carabiner Bench (Nature found no fault with me)’ takes the form of a large carabiner, split into three sections, inviting viewers to sit, rest, and reflect. The warm yellow hue of the artwork references queer ecologies and evokes the natural warmth of the sun.

The carabiner itself is a longstanding wearable symbol within the queer community. The utilitarian item was often used to hold keys, strategically placed on a belt or bag as a subtle signifier of queerness and a desire for connection.

A nod to its historical context, the artwork aspires to be a catalyst for fostering positive connections, both within queer circles and the broader community.

This artwork is situated in the courtyard outside Boadle Hall. Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change exhibition, closes this Sunday, 24 November.

@Tay_Haggarty

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

Positioned in the gallery’s Atrium space is artist Steven Bellosguardo’s captivating artwork ‘Master of none’, featuring a Castrol oil drum under an LED TV.

This artwork critiques the values of a success-oriented society, where output is prioritised over critical thinking and productivity is valued more than craftsmanship. The performance explores the concepts of success and persistence, drawing inspiration from the myth of Sisyphus — where action, failure and repetition become a generative force for creation, and intersect the identities of labourer and artist.

The work incorporates a blend of mud-brick methodologies, basketball culture and the materiality of construction, resulting in a convergence of absurd processes and outcomes.

Set against the backdrop of an anxiety-inducing beep test, the artist challenges us to reconsider capitalist systems of value, inviting us to envision a society that moves at a slower pace, fosters experimentation, and champions quality over quantity.

View Steven’s work at our Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change exhibition, open until this Sunday, 24 November.

Image: Steven Bellosguardo, ‘Master of none’, 2023, performance, stainless steel, Castrol oil drum, LED TV, dirt, video with sound, 12 mins, 30 secs.

@steven.bellos

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

Artist Shelley Watters’ artwork ‘Decomposing Futures (10 day sympoiesis)’, envisions a more sustainable world.

This work embodies a composting art practice grounded in an anti-capitalist and ecofeminist framework. Drawing inspiration from Donna Haraway’s concept of sympoiesis, or “making with”, Shelley Watters’ work engages with the collaborative processes of decomposition.

The eight compost bins at her children’s school, which serve as the driving force behind both the garden and her practice, underscore the potential of composting to mitigate climate change.

A donated white bedsheet is immersed in the thriving ecosystem of worms, black soldier fly larvae, vinegar flies, woodlice and Surinam cockroaches, allowing these organisms to leave their traces over 10 days. The result is a warm-toned landscape imprinted on the fabric, a composition that is both intimate and monumental.

View Shelley’s artwork at our 'Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change' exhibition, open until this Sunday, 24 November.

Image: Shelley Watters, ‘Decomposing Futures (10 day sympoiesis),’ 2024, donated white bedsheet, compost residue, wooden dowel. Photography by Michael Pham @phamstapham

@shelleywatters

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

‘Table Top Drawing’ by Incinerator Art Award shortlisted artist, Sarah Ujmaia, engages with the intersection of cultural heritage, materiality, and the poetics of light.

Drawing inspiration from a colourless, underexposed photograph taken at the Syriac Heritage Museum in the artist’s hometown of Ankawa, whose collection holds ‘everyday’ artefacts built from the community there, Sarah Ujmaia uses the lustrous quality of graphite to reintroduce substance and light to the image.

Through the repetitive layering of graphite, she transforms the surface into a dynamic interplay of light and shadow, abstracting the original reference. The stainless steel frame, which references the underside of school desks, inverts the familiar classroom structure, with the drawing supported by drilled tabs.

This inversion speaks to the violence embedded in pedagogical systems, while also considering the role of materials in preserving language and cultural continuity.

Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change exhibition is open until 24 November.

Image: Sarah Ujmaia, ‘Table Top Drawing’, 2023, graphite on paper, stainless steel. Photography by Gianna Rizzo @meaty

@sarahujmaia

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

Winner of this year’s Incinerator Art Award prize, Sam Petersen, is deeply connected to the medium of collage through a love of scrapbooking.

‘You Need Us’ is a powerful collage that takes the form of a ransom note, serving as a stark reminder of the societal neglect and marginalisation faced by people with disabilities. Through this work, the artist challenges the pervasive feelings of uselessness imposed by a lack of support and societal recognition.

Sam’s work calls for a society where individuals are not judged solely by their utility, instead advocating for a world where people can live without constant fear of being deemed irrelevant.

The fragmented and layered text is a visual representation of the artist’s thoughts and emotions and captures the urgency and passion of the artist’s message.

View Sam’s moving work in our 'Incinerator Art Award' exhibition, showing until 24 November.

Image: Sam Petersen, ‘You Need Us’, 2023, collage, paper, glue. Photography by Gianna Rizzo @meaty

@sampetercine

#incineratorartaward #artforsocialchange #incineratorgallery #mooneevalley #melbournegallery #socialchange

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