Market Mural: Raf McDonald

Market Mural by Raf McDonald is a public art installation that transforms the exterior wall of Everage Street, Moonee Ponds into a multi-layered artwork. The work responds to the history of the site as a former marketplace. The mural includes text which reads, “is the old marketplace receding or appearing?” inviting the viewer to contemplate the echoes and sensory impressions of the old market and imagine how the remnants of this place move with us through time.

Working with the visual language of abstraction, a form of non-representative art-making, Rafaella encourages the viewer to interpret the shapes, figures, and gestures present through their own thoughts and experiences. The colour palette and painting techniques used are intentionally anachronistic, reminiscent of the 1990’s era when murals were hand-painted with brushes and stencils to create the distinct gestures, tonal shifts, and textures within the work.

Market Mural commemorates past and present notions of place, while illustrating the role that public art can play in celebrating our local neighbourhoods and communities.

Market Mural was commissioned by Moonee Valley City Council in 2021 and funded by Caydon Property Group. Raf McDonald was selected by invitation and worked with the Rise Owner's Corporation Working Group to develop the final outcome.