Rone | Street Artists Online

Now recognised as one of Austalia’s best and most well known artists Rone was born in 1980 and raised in Greelong, Victoria before making the move to Melbourne.  It is in Melbourne that he has developed his work and gained first local and now worldwide recognition.

“I always had a respect for graffiti.  There was something about it that appealed to me, I think it was the risk of putting something up that will be judged by so many, the risk that someone will hate it and paint over it, or it will be praised by someone you’ll never meet.”

Back in 2002 he started painting skateparks and decorating boards, even now it is a culture he loves and feels a part of.  Since then his work has gradually spread out to adorn walls all over the city including some exhibitions and gallery spaces.  He also works as a graphic designer at the famous Everfresh studios in Collingwood which also houses other incredible talents such as Phibs, Wonderlust, Reka, 5ync, Makatron, Meggs, Prizm and The Tooth.

When on the street Rone prefers to paint, stencil and occasionally wheatpaste in high traffic areas and often in broad daylight.  Many of his pieces are very large and take longer to put up so he favours quick paste ups in the busier locations and loves the result as time causes them to deteriorate.  In recent years his work has veered toward a more freehand style that has allowed his murals to become something a little more organic which has made them perhaps more striking.  He has gained international acclaim for his portraits of glamorous women who’s close up is cropped to their faces and often tower over people walking by.  He has no interest in creating art that contains deeper or political messages like many street artists and paints to bring the city alive.

“If you think about it too much, it becomes a problem. I paint because I want to bring the streets alive.  I paint because I love it, and it adds character to any inanimate object. Whether it is a wall or a footpath. It brings the streets to life.”

One famous collection that gained his work much recognition was his ‘Jane Doe’ series that used a recurring image of a model who actually searched him out afterwards and was reported in The Age newspaper.  His work re-contextualises fashion images to attempt to find a point between beauty and decay that is both worn and iconically beautiful, that brings a strong emotional resonance with the viewer.  His figures now pop up all over the world bringing his patented, alluring style to the eyes of the world like introducing his own cinematic icons to the public.

Back at home his work has quickly become an unmistakable part of Melbourne’s dna, his images suffusing the landscape at an almost unimaginable rate.  Their calm beauty is in contrast to the city walls they grace yet somehow complements each other as dirt and grind fuse a transient beauty amidst the chaos of the street.

Country : Australia