Art n Groove: QVM’s third generation prints and posters

At Art n Groove, discover exclusive prints and posters of renowned artists and celebrities created in-house by the talented family behind-the-scenes, reflecting their passion and dedication to the business.

A third generation business run by owner Kris, Art n Groove has been operating for more than 10 years at Queen Victoria Market (QVM) as a leader in the poster and print business.

“I’m married to an Australian girl, so we ran the business for about 20 years in Ireland before we came to Australia and I opened up the stall,” Kris said.

Although specialising in music and movie posters, Kris notes a shift in demand towards sports-themed and cityscape designs, particularly among their tourist clientele.

“We do them to one size, so they’re all mounted and printed to a standard size of 40 by 50 centimetres,” Kris told CBD News.

“We keep them to one uniform size for the market because most of our customers would be travelling.”

While AFL team posters are popular, Art n Groove’s “top seller” is always their collection of Michael Jordan prints, much to Kris’s dismay as his own football team, English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, hangs behind as their “weakest seller”.

Among the diverse array of prints on offer, a selection is sourced from talented local artists as well as designs by Kris’s brother, enriching the family-run business with a unique and “very special” charm.

“He’s a digital artist, he produces a lot of the stuff now so it’s Melbourne-based. Before that, we worked with artists in Camden and London to produce the prints,” he said.

Once you work for your own father in the same business and then you see your son following in similar footsteps, it certainly gives you a renewed interest in the business.

Having run his business from within the market for the past 10 years, Kris says the community of traders at QVM is “second to none”.

“It’s an unbelievable place to work. Coming through the harshest trading times that the market has probably ever seen through COVID when we weren’t making a dollar, it was the community of traders that kept us all going,” he said.

“They came every morning, no-one was making any money, but we just had the foresight and the tenacity to keep it going within all ourselves.”

“I’m a first-generation immigrant to Australia, so the market certainly has facilitated a lot of people’s livelihoods as well.”

Art n Groove is located in Shed E, and is open Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to 2pm, Friday and Saturday from 9am to 3pm, and Sunday from 9am to 4pm. •