5 of Melbourne’s coolest artist-run galleries

Melbourne’s reputation as the cultural capital of Australia is enhanced by a proliferation of artist-run galleries and exhibition spaces, often located in out of the way destinations such as in laneways and within the walls of run-down buildings. Waiting to be discovered, they often pop up and disappear again without trace. Here’s my list of gallery spaces that regularly host exhibitions where you will be able to get a real taste of the creative soul of Melbourne beyond the mainstream and highly priced galleries. Make sure you check the websites for opening hours and details of current shows before setting out on your artistic adventure.

1. No Vacancy Gallery

34 – 40 Jane Bell Lane, Melbourne. Tucked away within the QV precinct, one of Melbourne’s retail hubs, No Vacancy Gallery is a contemporary art space that melds the notion of an artist run initiative and a commercial gallery. No Vacancy supports mid career Melbourne-based artists and curators and has reputation for bold ‘left of field’ work that attracts the hippest of Melbourne’s art scene. When navigating your way through QV you’ll be distracted by upmarket retail stores, but remember it’s about buying art, not shoes, so keep your eye on the prize and focus your compass on No Vacancy.

2. Blindside

Level 7, Room 14, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne.  The Nicholas Building on the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane is well known in Melbourne as a home to artist studios, independent creative retail and exhibition spaces. Its beautiful vaulted stained glass ceiling on the ground floor hints at a building with a grand past, although much has changed. This former rag trade hub now has as its core mission affordable and accessible rent for creative enterprise. With an art bargain in mind, weave your way up, floor by floor investigating the variety of tenants, to level 7 where Blindside supports emerging artists and promotes educative artistic dialogue through exhibitions, talks, workshops and forums. Two words: super cool.          

3. Blender

110 Franklin Street, Melbourne. You’ve probably heard about Melbourne’s reputation as a global influence on the street art scene, much of which has been well documented, but here’s a location that’s one step beyond the better known city alleyways that give Melbourne such a reputation. From the moment Blender first opened its doors, its adjacent laneway has slowly turned into one of Melbourne’s best stencil and graffiti locations and quite bit more. Accommodating 18 artist studios, an artist in residence program and several unique exhibition spaces that showcase the work of emerging local artists, it’s a hot space to get into and the edgy kids love it. During summer there’s even a Wednesday night art market, which is always worth a look for the next big thing in Next Big Things.  

4. Fort Delta

Basement, Capitol Arcade, 22 Howey Place, Melbourne. 

Fort Delta is located in one of those classic basement-off-a-lane-off-another-lane destinations that we locals take pride in keeping relatively undiscovered. An added benefit of this particular location is that it is in the basement of the magnificent Art Deco Capitol Building, made famous for its Walter Burley Griffin-designed theatre (worth a look while you are there). The basement arts space is a new-comer to the creative landscape of the city but is gathering traction as a venue for its diverse showings of emerging and established local artists and designers. An opening here is great people watching – and thanks to the hard to find location – you never know who you might run into. Wear black – the uniform of choice for Melbourne’s art tribe.

5. Rancho Notorious

361 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. 

This space for hire above the very hip 1000 Pound Bend Bar & Cafe hosts not only exhibitions and installations but screenings and live gigs too. Named after the 1952 Fritz Lang film starring Marlene Dietrich, Rancho Notorious is the perfect destination to deliver an authentic Melbourne art experience. Situated within a run down and barely refurbished warehouse space at the heart of the city’s new fashionable quarter, you’ll find yourself deep in the hipster woods. The conversations within earshot will be hilarious, and often the artwork on display is big on the irony front, usually reflecting Melbourne’s latest zeitgeist moment.

This may be my top five of its kind, but be assured someone else has another top five and someone else yet another. Melbourne’s creative scene is alive and well, with venues popping up and disappearing at a rapid pace. Keeping up is all part of the adventure!