Melbourne art gallery No Vacancy is hosting eight acts across three nights as part of Limitless Play this November.
No Vacancy Gallery in QV is doing something different this month. From 3 to 16 November, the Melbourne art gallery becomes home to Limitless Play; an artist-led takeover that’s as much about live music as it is about visual art.
Five emerging artists are transforming the space into an experimental playground where sound, sculpture and performance collide.
Annabel Le, Tim Sta-Ana, Felix Pear, Lae Um and Joshua So have programmed three major music nights alongside interactive installations and community events.
The exhibition itself, which runs for two weeks, explores play as a legitimate creative practice with uninhibited mark-making, installations you can touch, and a 3D character printer that runs continuously throughout the fortnight.
Limitless Play – Melbourne art gallery takeover
- Friday 7 November: Performance Night featuring Ether, MaggZ and second skin, 7-9pm
- Saturday 8 November: Opening night with Juniper Care, Wen Pei Low, JXCKY and Robert Baxter, 7-11pm
- Sunday 9 November: HOISZN Launch Party celebrating Issue 007, 12-3pm
- Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 November: Interactive art workshop with Touch Collective
- Exhibition runs 3-16 November
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Friday 7 November brings Performance Night with three electronic and experimental acts. Ether creates ambient soundscapes layered with experimental beats, while MaggZ brings hip-hop and R&B energy to the underground scene. second skin closes the night with synth-heavy pop that doubles as performance art.
Opening night on Saturday 8 November goes bigger with four acts spanning electronic, experimental and soul. Juniper Care, Joshua So’s musical project, pairs electronic production with visual storytelling and hand-animated cartoons projected throughout the performance.
Wen Pei Low works with field recordings and delicate instrumentation to build intimate soundscapes. JXCKY delivers soul and R&B with serious vocal range and stage presence.
Robert Baxter rounds out the lineup with a genre-fluid set pulling from indie, electronica and jazz.
Sunday afternoon shifts gears with the HOISZN Launch Party celebrating Issue 007 of the quarterly design publication. It’s a more relaxed vibe with creative activities, food and drinks; basically a chance to hang out with Melbourne’s design and arts crowd in a transformed gallery setting.
Beyond the headline nights, there’s plenty happening across the two weeks at the Melbourne art gallery. Artists will be present throughout for informal sit-ins and conversations about their work.
Touch Collective is running hands-on workshops on 15 and 16 November that are open to all ages.
The exhibition itself features sculpture, fashion pieces, illustration, motion work and video art from the five artists, all exploring what happens when you prioritise intuition over technique.
It’s worth noting that events on 8 and 9 November double as fundraisers for VACCA (Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency), so tickets go toward supporting their work with Aboriginal children, young people and families across Victoria.
The five artists bring diverse practices to the space.
Annabel Le works across sculpture, fashion and illustration with shows at Jacky Winter Gallery and Craft Victoria.
Joshua So has collaborated with Adobe, Nike and Spotify, moving between poetry, music and visual art. Lae Um has animated for Netflix and Disney+ while exploring heartbreak and transformation through motion and sculpture. Tim Sta-Ana blends digital and traditional techniques with international exhibitions and animation work for Converse Australia and ACMI.
Felix Pear creates playful worlds celebrating queer sexuality through painting, sculpture and video, with work appearing in publications and music videos.
Limitless Play positions the Melbourne art gallery as a venue where music, visual art and performance exist on equal footing.
Over two weeks, No Vacancy becomes a space for experimentation; where hand-animated cartoons accompany live sets, where sculptures double as interactive installations, and where the boundaries between disciplines dissolve completely.
It’s a rare chance to experience the Melbourne art gallery transformed into something between exhibition space, gig venue and collaborative playground.
For more information, head here.
