About Geoff Cunningham

I’m a Melbourne-based artist working primarily with hand-cut stencils and spray paint. I’ve been a full-time artist since 2007, after spending 15 years in graphic design - which probably explains why I still obsess over composition, colour and whether something is three millimetres out.

My work is driven by storytelling, memory and the strange way ordinary images stick with us. Much of it draws on Australian life in the 1970s and 80s - suburban streets, old cars, pop culture and the little visual details that can suddenly take you straight back somewhere.

I’m interested in that moment when an image triggers a feeling before you’ve quite worked out why. The memories often start with my own experiences, but ideally the paintings leave enough room for people to bring their own stories to them.

Each work is built from hand-cut, layered stencils and spray paint. There’s a lot of intricate, time consuming cutting, a lot of paint and occasionally some questioning of my sanity. I like the tension between precision and imperfection - sharp edges, overspray, layering and all the things that stop it feeling too slick.

More than anything, I want the work to connect - to trigger a memory, stir a feeling, or simply make someone stop and stay with it for a while.

If you’ve found your way here, thanks for looking.

- Geoff Cunningham

View available works

See how a stencil painting is created....

ART PRIZES

  • Salon des Refusés - Lethbridge Gallery Small Scale Art Prize 2026
  • Salon des Refusés - Tattersal's Club Landscape Art Prize 2026
  • Finalist - Omnia Art Prize 2024 
  • Finalist - Lethbridge Gallery Small Scale Art Award (2023)
  • Finalist - National Capital Art Prize 2022 (sustainability section)
  • Finalist - Omnia Art Prize 2022 
  • Finalist - National Capital Art Prize 2021 (open section)
  • Finalist - Bluethumb Art Prize 2021
  • Finalist - Art Lovers Australia Art Prize 2019/20
  • Finalist - Stencil Art Prize (2019/20)
  • Finalist - Lethbridge Gallery Small Scale Art Award (2019)
  • Finalist - St.Kevins Art Show (2018/19)
  • Finalist - Gallipoli Art Prize (2016).
  • Semi-Finalist - Signature of M Art Prize (2008)

PUBLIC WORKS

  • 2021 - Gooligulch Playspace, creation of various artworks/play equipment based on the childrens book               by Graeme Base; ‘My Grandma Lived In Gooligulch’ 
  • 2015 - Anzac Anniversary Signal Box Project, Boroondara council

SOLO & ART FAIR EXHIBITION HISTORY

  • 2026 - Affordable Art Fair (Melbourne edition)
  • 2025 - Affordable Art Fair  (Brisbane & Melbourne edition)
  • 2024 - Affordable Art Fair (Melbourne edition)
  • 2022 - The Other Art Fair - (Sydney edition)
  • 2022 - Hawthorn Town Hall Gallery - ‘Streets Of Your Town’
  • 2022 - The Other Art Fair - Melbourne edition
  • 2018 - Hawthorn Studio & Gallery - ‘Urban Nature’ exhibition
  • 2014 - The Stonehouse Gallery
  • 2014-16 - The Firehouse Restaurant
  • 2010 - The Yellow Door Cafe (Albert Park)

GROUP EXHIBITION HISTORY

  • 2026 - Australian Art Show - Scotch College
  • 2026 - Art To Art - 'Brave' Exhibition
  • 2025 - Art To Art - Grand Opening Exhibition
  • 2025 -'Expressions Of Place' (MAVA) at Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn
  • 2024 - Summer Exhibition - Market Gallery Prahan
  • 2021/22 - National Capital Art Prize
  • 2019/20/21 -Stencil Art Prize travelling exhibition
  • 2019 - Lethbridge Gallery Small Works Art Prize
  • 2018 - Summer Exhibition- Hawthorn Studio Gallery
  • 2017 - Hong Kong Art Fair - Manyung Gallery
  • 2016 - "Stories" Yard Furniture
  • 2016 - "Metropolis" Manyung Gallery
  • 2016 - Singapore Art Fair - Manyung Gallery
  • 2016 - Gallipoli Art prize exhibition
  • 2008-14 - Linden Contemporary Art (Postcards Show)
  • 2011/12 & 2017 - Brunswick Street Gallery (small works)
  • 2008-10 - Beechworth Fine Art
  • 2009 - Without Pier Gallery-Cheltenham