Rone

An evocative survey of street, studio and installation work by an influential fixture of Australian street art and global pioneer pushing the boundaries of immersion, destruction and scale.

Known for his multi-storey murals gracing buildings all over the world, Melbourne-based artist Rone uses his work to explore the friction and connection between beauty and decay, youth and ruin.

Rone was a seminal figure in the explosive Melbourne street art scene of the early 2000s. With his beginnings in street art, stencil and screen printing, Rone is now best known for his haunting images of women’s faces, rendered in arresting detail on silos and store fronts, museums and apartment blocks. His immersive installations have continued his investigation into divergent themes of beauty and ruin, materiality and loss, through the transformation of condemned, derelict or forgotten spaces – with each artwork painstakingly produced, only to be destroyed.

Rone: Street Art and Beyond presents a survey of the artist’s work from the street, the studio, and the ephemeral installations. The works are bookended by essays that trace the evolution of Rone’s career over the last two decades, delve into his depictions of women, and go behind the scenes of his most ambitious installation to date: Empire (2019), set in the disused Art Deco mansion Burnham Beeches on the outskirts of Melbourne. Anecdotal notes from the artist unpack the stories behind the portraits, tying them to their communities in London, Paris, New York, Havana, Christchurch, Hong Kong and beyond.

About the Artist

Rone lives and creates in Collingwood, Victoria. Drawing inspiration from his world travels and the cultures that surround him, Rone got his start in stencils on the street before moving on to large-scale murals and, in recent years, multi-sensory installations inviting the viewer to explore creativity and beauty through an immersive sense of loss and decay. His distinctive portraits can be seen in various states of ruin in cities like London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Havana, Christchurch, Detroit and Hong Kong. His works also appear in permanent collections at the National Gallery of Australia and National Gallery of Victoria. His first survey exhibition, Rone in Geelong, will open at the Geelong Gallery in February 2021.