Art @ Pop-Up Benalla Art Gallery

Pop-Up Benalla Art Gallery - 75 Bridge Street East

HA-HA: Street Art Bushranger

Anna Dehm: Cabbage Salad

Mervyn Beamish: Shifting Ground

Stephanie Cartledge: Shared Waters

Karen Brown: Nature Up Close

Anita Laurence and Bill Young: A creative partnership

Jane Coy: Mysteries of the Great Ocean Road

HA-HA: Street Art Bushranger

Official Exhibition of the 2026 Benalla Street Art Festival

Fri 13 Mar - Sun 26 Apr 2026

Street Art Bushranger presents a bold and timely exploration of Australian popular culture through the work of renowned street artist HA-HA. Drawing on imagery from mass media and the everyday visual noise of contemporary life, the exhibition examines the modern obsessions that define the 21st century - reality television, celebrity, sport, crime, wealth, and the pursuit of instant notoriety.

At the centre of HA-HA's practice is a painstaking, analogue process. Using hand-cut, multi-layered stencils - sometimes comprising up to forty layers - the artist creates highly detailed, lifelike images sourced from newspapers, digital media, and original photography. Working without digital cutting tools, HA-HA's technique reflects both technical mastery and a commitment to physical making in an increasingly digital world.

The exhibition is closely linked to Benalla through HA-HA's iconic stencilled portrait of Ned Kelly. The artist draws a deliberate parallel between the outlaw legacy of Kelly and the criminalisation of street art, viewing both as acts of resistance and defiance against authority. This connection resonates strongly within the local landscape, where Kelly's story continues to loom large.

Alongside portraits of figures connected to the Kelly narrative, Street Art Bushranger also showcases HA-HA's experimentation with new technologies. Visitors will encounter works animated through augmented reality, as well as original musical scores generated through a mathematical translation of the number and duration of each cut made in the stencil-making process - extending the artwork beyond the visual into sound and motion.

Mervyn Beamish: Shifting Ground

2-31 March 2026

Benalla based artist Mervyn Beamish presents a selection of framed oil paintings and digital artworks in the Gallery Shop throughout March.

Mervyn works primarily in oil and digital art (not AI), using these mediums to explore texture, light and form in ways that bridge the tangible and the interpretive. This approach reflects a background in Art and Design and Production Design, where precision and emotional depth are central. Drawing from sketches and snapshots taken while travelling through inland Australia and overseas, the artist transforms the familiar into something evocative, inviting viewers to engage with the emotional and conceptual layers of each work.

Anna Dehm: Cabbage Salad

2 March - 31 May 2026

Anna Dehm is an emerging artist whose vibrant works on paper explore rhythm, movement and intuitive form. Working with markers and mixed media techniques, including collage, she creates striking compositions where freeform shapes merge and unfold into intricate, mesmerizing patterns. Since joining Arts Project Australia in 2021, Dehm has developed a confident visual language defined by bold colour, layered texture and an organic sense of flow that transforms the picture plane into a dynamic, immersive field.

Stephanie Cartledge: Shared Waters

Fri 27 Mar - Sun 19 Jul 2026

Benalla Visitor Information Centre
14 Mair Street, Benalla

Shared Waters explores the quiet, often unnoticed lives of native animals that inhabit Lake Benalla. The exhibition heroes species that exist alongside our daily lives yet remain largely unseen. Many people walk the lake's edge every day without ever spotting a platypus, rakali, nankeen night heron or long-necked turtle. In some cases, without knowing these animals live here at all.

These species are elusive by nature, most active at dawn and dusk. As crepuscular animals, their lives rarely intersect with human routines, reinforcing their invisibility despite their constant presence. While the platypus is a well known resident and acts as the visual anchor of the exhibition, the surrounding works intentionally champion species that are less recognised and perhaps underrepresented in public narratives.

By bringing these animals into focus, this exhibition asserts Lake Benalla as a shared ecosystem. The works invite viewers to slow down, look again and consider what it means to coexist with animals that quietly depend on the same waters. Ultimately, the exhibition asks whose stories are seen, whose are overlooked, and what responsibility comes with shared space.

FUTURE EXHIBITIONS

Karen Brown: Nature Up Close

1-30 Apr 2026

Anita Laurence and Bill Young: A creative partnership

1 May - 28 Jun 2026

Jane Coy: Mysteries of the Great Ocean Road

1-31 May 2026




Happens: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Time: Open 10 - 5pm Closed Tuesdays



 Benalla Art Gallery | Pop-Up Gallery View Venue
 Bridge Street,  Benalla Victoria 3672 Map
Advertiser: www.benallaartgallery.com.au

→ www.benallaartgallery.com.au/collection

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