Melbourne Art Fair 2026: A Celebration of Contemporary Australian Creativity
Melbourne Art Fair returns to the Melbourne Exhibition Centre from 19–22 February 2026, bringing together an extraordinary selection of contemporary Australian artists across painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, and design. From senior masters to emerging voices, the fair offers an immersive survey of the depth, diversity, and innovation defining the nation’s creative landscape.
Image credit: Melbourne Art Fair 2025. Courtesy of Melbourne Art Fair.
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery
Booth I4
Roslyn Oxley9 continues its tradition of presenting high-profile contemporary artists, featuring works by James Angus, Del Kathryn Barton, Daniel Boyd, Dale Frank, Louise Hearman, Bill Henson, Isaac Julien, Jim Lambie, and Dhambit Munuŋgurr. The gallery underscores MAF 2026’s international and multidisciplinary scope, bridging painting, photography, sculpture, and installation.
Image credit: Isaac Julien, Statues Never Die (Once Again... Statues Never Die), 2022, Inkjet print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag, 150 x 200 cm, Edition of 6 + 2 AP. Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Gadigal Country/Sydney
Emilia Galatis Projects: Corban Clause Williams
Booth H6
Emerging Indigenous artist Corban Clause Williams makes his Melbourne solo debut with fifteen new works spanning painting and textile collaborations. Drawing on his Manyjilyjarra heritage, Williams’ vibrant canvases depict culturally significant sites, including Kaalpa (Canning Stock Route Well 23), weaving ancestral stories into contemporary creative practice. The exhibition includes Bumba x Flash Minky, a textile collaboration that brings Indigenous narratives into functional art forms.
Image credit: Corban Bamba Clause Williams, Kaalpa (Canning Stock Route Well 23), 2025, acrylic on canvas, 76x122cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Australian Tapestry Workshop: Sangeeta Sandrasegar
Booth K8
At the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Sangeeta Sandrasegar’s Everything has two witnesses, one on earth and one in the sky (2014) exemplifies the ATW’s commitment to experimental textile practices. Woven by Sue Batten, the tapestry reflects Sandrasegar’s engagement with cultural identity, postcolonial histories, and environmental awareness. Sandrasegar’s ongoing collaboration with ATW continues through her 2025 residency and public commission at Federation Square, which explores narratives of migration, hybridity, and cultural storytelling using natural dyes and silk organza.
Image credit: Everything has two witnesses, one on earth and one in the sky, 2014. Designed by Sangeeta Sandrasegar, woven by Sue Batten ATW, wool and cotton, 164 x 89 cm (unframed - comes with batten hanging system). Courtesy of Australian Tapestry Workshop, Naarm/Melbourne
Charles Nodrum Gallery: Lesley Dumbrell
Booth A4
Lesley Dumbrell’s survey at Charles Nodrum Gallery charts six decades of abstract painting and works on paper. From her hard-edge geometric abstractions of the 1960s to intricate contemporary linear works, Dumbrell’s exploration of line, colour, and optical perception remains unmatched. As a founding member of the Women’s Art Register in 1975, she has been a pivotal figure in shaping the Women’s Art Movement in Australia. Her methodical yet intuitive approach transforms precise geometric systems into paintings that pulse with energy, inviting viewers into a dialogue between perception and emotion.
Image credit: Lesley Dumbrell, Shoal, 1977, Liquitex on canvas, 129 x 213cm. Courtesy of the artist and Charles Nodrum Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
William Mora Galleries: Henry Lewis and Mirka Mora
Booth H3
William Mora Galleries presents photographic works by Henry Lewis alongside Mirka Mora’s iconic legacy. Lewis’ practice explores perception, the body, and visual narrative, while Mora’s oeuvre, spanning mosaics, embroidery, soft sculpture, and public artworks, remains central to Melbourne’s cultural history.
Image credit: Henry Lewis, 139, 2025, digital assembled photographs, eco-solvent ink jet print on archival rag paper, 310 gsm, 122 x 98 cm, Ed. 1/3. Photo by Henry Lewis, courtesy of the artist : Mirka Mora, In The Woods, 2012, oil on canvas, 152 x 136 cm. All images of Mirka Mora works are Copyrighted to the Estate of Mirka Mora, courtesy of William Mora Galleries, Naarm/Melbourne
Nasha Gallery: James Little
Booth G4
James Little presents a body of work that examines masculinity, narrative, and the interplay between fact and fantasy. The works investigate the blurred boundaries of personal mythology and societal constructs, creating a psychological and cultural resonance for contemporary audiences.
Image credit: James Little, youtu.be/AnNdyfo0MzM, 2025, steel, carbon fiber reinforced polylactic acid 130 x 49 x 5 cm; 51 x 19 2⁄3 x 2 in. courtesy of the artist and Nasha Gallery, Gadigal Country/Sydney
Nanda\Hobbs: Jun Chen and Selma Coulthard
Booth J5
Jun Chen and Selma Coulthard’s works examine the Australian landscape through distinct cultural and personal lenses. Chen’s gestural paintings capture the vibrancy of the bush through impasto and memory, while Coulthard interprets Country via ancestral knowledge, ceremony, and cultural responsibility, reminding viewers of the enduring dialogue between land and identity.
Image credit: Selma Coulthard painting on Country. Photo: TBC. Courtesy of the artist.
Piermarq*: Craig Handley, Cosimo Casoni, Henrik Godsk
Booth D4
Piermarq presents three international artists who navigate narrative, form, and abstraction. Craig Handley evokes nostalgia and suburban memory; Cosimo Casoni blends surrealism with post-graffiti aesthetics; and Henrik Godsk’s geometric figurations and symbolic compositions merge Scandinavian minimalism with European art history.
Image credit: Cosimo Casoni, Winter Sesh (Lucca), 2025, oil, acrylic, enamel, pencil on canvas, 75 x 60 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Piermarq*, Gadigal Country/Sydney
Adam Goodrum: ReStitch 2026
Booth E5
Designer Adam Goodrum’s ReStitch 2026 demonstrates a mastery of form and function. The series of folding furniture, chairs, side tables, and a table, showcases a fully integrated hinge system in mirror-polished stainless steel, merging minimalist design with elegant engineering.
Image credit: ReStitch, 2026. Photo: Peter Ryle
D Lan Galleries: Janet Koongotema
Booth D8
D Lan Galleries, in collaboration with Wik & Kugu Art Centre, presents Archer River Country, Janet Koongotema’s first solo exhibition in Melbourne. Koongotema, a senior elder of the Winchanam Clan, translates her traditional weaving knowledge into vivid paintings that illuminate ancestral lands along the Archer River. Works such as Minh Themp | Burdekin Duck (2025) and Waangk Awa | Dilly Bag Story Place (2024) convey profound cultural and ecological narratives, offering viewers a luminous insight into her Country, creation stories, and the enduring presence of ancestral knowledge.
Image credit: JANET KOONGOTEMA, Punpan, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 200 x 137 cm. Photographer: Leslie Haworth and © Courtesy of Wik & Kugu Art Centre
The Renshaws: Julie Fragar
Booth J3
Julie Fragar’s paintings at The Renshaws interrogate personal and collective histories, layering text, imagery, and abstraction to explore family, memory, and human emotion. Her works offer an introspective experience, balancing intimacy with the universal narratives embedded in everyday life.
Image credit: Julie Fragar, This is Not a Dress Rehearsal: A Catalogue of Final Options, 2019, Oil on board, 270 x 200cm. Courtesy of the artist and The Renshaws, Meanjin/ Brisbane
PALAS: Eva Rothschild and Marco Fusinato
Booth B1
PALAS features Irish artist Eva Rothschild’s Heartbreaker (2025), a sculpture of coloured rubber and steel that balances intimacy and formal restraint, alongside Marco Fusinato’s DESASTRES (2026), a screen-painting series transforming noise, imagery, and endurance into a forceful visual language that expands on his work for the 2022 Venice Biennale.
Image credit: Eva Rothschild, Madonna, 2024, painted bronze, reinforced concrete plinth sculpture: 150 x 90 x 90 cm. Plinth: 90 x 90 x 80 cm. Photo: Josh Raymond Courtesy of the Artist & PALAS, Sydney.
Jan Murphy Gallery: Betty Muffler
Booth H2
Betty Muffler’s works at Jan Murphy Gallery articulate healing, resilience, and connection to Country. As a Ngangkari and Anangu artist, Muffler’s Ngangkari Ngura series reflects the enduring significance of ancestral sites, offering both spiritual and artistic insight into the deep cultural histories of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands.
Image credit: Artist Portraits of Betty Muffler. Courtesy the Artist, Iwantja Arts and Jan Murphy Gallery
PALAS: Eva Rothschild and Marco Fusinato
Booth B1
PALAS features Irish artist Eva Rothschild’s Heartbreaker (2025), a sculpture of coloured rubber and steel that balances intimacy and formal restraint, alongside Marco Fusinato’s DESASTRES (2026), a screen-painting series transforming noise, imagery, and endurance into a forceful visual language that expands on his work for the 2022 Venice Biennale.
Image credit: Eva Rothschild, Madonna, 2024, painted bronze, reinforced concrete plinth sculpture: 150 x 90 x 90 cm. Plinth: 90 x 90 x 80 cm. Photo: Josh Raymond Courtesy of the Artist & PALAS, Sydney.
ARC ONE
Booth B2
ARC ONE Gallery presents a considered, multi-generational presentation at Melbourne Art Fair 2026, bringing together new works by Marina Rolfe, Lydia Wegner, Jarrad Martyn and Jya-Ruby Nation, alongside significant series by Pat Brassington, Janet Laurence, Nike Savvas, John Young, Anne Zahalka and the Estate of John Davis.
The booth offers an annexed view of PILLARS, the group exhibition currently on display at ARC ONE’s Flinders Lane gallery. Across both presentations, the works examine how artistic practices gain meaning through relation, continuity and collective support, with each artist contributing a distinct chapter to a broader, interconnected structure. Together, these practices form a set of conceptual and material pillars, underscoring ARC ONE’s long-standing commitment to sustained dialogue across generations of contemporary art.
Image credit: JULIE RRAP, “Power Climber” Lance, 2019, Bronze, edition of 3 + 1 AP, 13 389 x 8 x 8 cm. Courtey of the artist and ARC ONE Gallery
Melbourne Art Fair 2026 promises a multidimensional encounter with contemporary Australian art, presenting works that range from the intimate to the monumental, from the ancestral to the experimental, and from established masters to emerging trailblazers. The fair underscores Melbourne’s position as a vibrant hub for art, culture, and creative dialogue.
