View source for Rone

{{Short description|Australian street artist}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Rone
| image            = 
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| birth_name       = Tyrone Wright
| birth_date       = {{Birth year and age|1980}}
| birth_place      = Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| nationality      = Australian
| education        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| known_for        = 
| notable_works    = 
| style            = [[Street art]]
| movement         = 
| website          = [https://www.r-o-n-e.com www.r-o-n-e.com]
}}

'''Tyrone Wright''' (born 1980), better known by his [[pseudonym]] '''Rone''', is an Australian [[street artist]] based in [[Melbourne]].

== History ==

Rone grew up in a rural location outside [[Geelong]], Victoria, before moving to Melbourne in 2001.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-art-show/rone-manda-lane-the-art-show/104132374 | title=Street art in ascendence; the art of RONE and Manda Lane | website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=21 August 2024 }}</ref> In 2002, he started decorating skateboards and skate parks<ref name="sr">{{cite web | title = Artist Profile: tyRONE | work = Stencil Revolution | url = http://www.stencilrevolution.com/profiles/index.php?id=3 }}</ref> before beginning to put [[Past|paste-ups]] and [[Stencil art|stencils]] on walls around Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-29 |title=Rone: Street Art and Beyond |url=https://artsreview.com.au/rone-street-art-and-beyond/ |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Australian Arts Review |language=en-AU}}</ref> He creates  "[[John Doe|Jane Doe]]" images.<ref>{{Cite web |last=maryannadair |date=2020-11-18 |title=Rone's Grown {{!}} From Jane Doe's to Top Studios |url=https://maryannadair.com/2020/11/18/rones-grown-from-jane-does-to-top-studios/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=MaryAnn Adair's 'Is it art' Blog |language=en-US}}</ref> In the earlier years of his career, Rone used to use [[wheat pasting]] to do quick paste-ups in busy locations, but later work on the streets are mostly created using traditional painting materials such as rollers and paintbrushes. Some of the locations he has painted include [[New York City|New York]], [[San Francisco]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Miami]], [[Paris]], [[Berlin]], [[London]], [[Tokyo]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Santo Domingo]], [[Mexico]], [[Havana]], [[Christchurch]], and [[Port Vila]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Walls |url=https://www.r-o-n-e.com/walls |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Rone |language=en}}</ref>

Rone’s work is now in galleries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-22 |title=The street artist who came in from the cold |url=https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/the-street-artist-who-came-in-from-the-cold-20201216-p56o3r |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en}}</ref> His work has been acquisitioned by institutions the [[National Gallery of Australia]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search "rone" - Search results - National Gallery |url=https://nga.gov.au/search-results/ |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=National Gallery of Australia |language=en}}</ref> and the [[National Gallery of Victoria]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rone artist profile |url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/29954 }}</ref> and has been shown by Stolen Space in London,  Opera Gallery in New York,  White Walls in San Francisco, Urban Nation in Berlin, and Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gallery Works |url=https://www.r-o-n-e.com/gallery-works |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Rone |language=en}}</ref> He has also worked on a [[Jean Paul Gaultier]] museum exhibit<ref>{{Cite web |title=NGV > The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier |url=https://ngv.vic.gov.au/jeanpaulgaultier/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=ngv.vic.gov.au}}</ref> and is a brand ambassador for [[Uniqlo]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Five Faces of UNIQLO Australia Revealed {{!}} FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. |url=https://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/news/1403041300.html |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=www.fastretailing.com}}</ref>

In February 2021, Rone received an arts grant from the Australian federal government for $1.86 million,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hutchinson |first=Stephen Brook, Samantha |date=2021-02-02 |title=Street artist Rone scores a COVID-19 grant coup |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/street-artist-rone-scores-a-covid-grant-coup-20210202-p56yvt.html |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=The Age |language=en}}</ref> one of the largest amounts awarded to a single artist in Australian history.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-10 |title=Latest arts money isn't enough; we need transparency |url=https://www.artshub.com.au/news/opinions-analysis/latest-arts-money-isnt-enough-we-need-transparency-261881-2369923/ |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=ArtsHub Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref>

== Exhibitions ==
Since 2016 Rone has been creating immersive art installations in abandoned buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-14 |title=A private walkthrough of Rone's new exhibition 'Empty' |url=https://www.acclaimmag.com/art/a-private-walkthrough-of-rones-new-exhibition-empty/ |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Acclaim Magazine |language=en-us}}</ref> The first of these, EMPTY, took place in the old Star Lyric Theatre building in [[Fitzroy, Victoria|Fitzroy]], Melbourne. Opened in 1911 and once seating 2,300 patrons, it was one of the first permanent movie theatres in Victoria.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Chris |date=2018-02-12 |title=Final Curtain for the Star Lyric Theatre |url=https://the3068group.org/2018/02/12/final-curtain-for-the-star-lyric-theatre/ |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=The 3068 Group |language=en}}</ref> When Rone found out the building would soon be demolished, he asked to use the space for an art exhibition. 12,000 patrons came to the show over 10 days, and photographs featured in the show are now part of the National Gallery of Victoria's permanent collection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnstone |first=Rose |title=Rone: Empty {{!}} Art in Melbourne |url=https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/art/rone-empty |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Time Out Melbourne |date=12 October 2016 |language=en-AU}}</ref> 

In 2017, he was invited to transform the machine rooms of the old Alphington Paper Mill, which was built in the 1910s and was Victoria’s first paper mill.<ref>{{Cite web |title=3078 history: the paper mill |url=https://www.alphington.org.au/acconline/2020/5/15/3078-history-the-papermill |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Alphington Community Centre |date=15 May 2020 |language=en-GB}}</ref> A clandestine project, Rone completed a series of murals inside the decrepit building in secret. Because of health and safety requirements, only a small group of people were able to view the works, which he called  ALPHA; they also had to wear reflective vests and hard hats and be given a full safety induction on arrival. The building has since been demolished.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alphington Paper Mill site redevelopment {{!}} Yarra City Council |url=https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/the-area/planning-for-yarras-future/current-projects/alphington-paper-mill |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=www.yarracity.vic.gov.au |language=en}}</ref> 

Later that year, Rone transformed a small weatherboard cottage into an immersive show called  OMEGA. Part art exhibition, part installation, Omega was Rone’s first project that went beyond painting portraits in decaying buildings and created an immersive experience. He recreated the archetypal mid-century Australian interior landscape that the home’s former resident grew up in. In total, 8,000 people visited over 10 days, with an hours-long queue snaking down the chain-link fence that lined the block. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnstone |first=Rose |title=Melbourne street artist Rone has transformed an abandoned house into a beautiful, decaying installation |url=https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/blog/melbourne-street-artist-rone-has-transformed-an-abandoned-house-into-a-beautiful-decaying-installation-072117 |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Time Out Melbourne |date=21 July 2017 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

Based on the success of OMEGA, Rone was invited to turn the [[Burnham Beeches, Sherbooke|Burnham Beeches]] mansion in the [[Dandenong Ranges]] into a multi-storey art exhibit. Originally built in 1933, the mammoth structure had stood empty for a quarter century. The show, called EMPIRE, was a year in the making, with the team living on site through the change of the seasons. Then in March 2019, over the course of six weeks, more than 25,000 people travelled to see the show, which included fourteen giant murals based on the manor’s history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Melbourne street artist Rone on what comes after the destruction of Empire |url=https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/art/melbourne-street-artist-rone-on-what-comes-after-the-destruction-of-empire |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Time Out Melbourne |date=23 May 2019 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

In late 2020 Rone was a part of Melbourne's first so-called “artcade,” which was designed to bring people back into the city after COVID lockdowns.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dowse |first=Nicola |title=Melbourne has a new arcade that's decked out entirely in street art |url=https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/news/melbourne-has-a-new-arcade-thats-decked-out-entirely-in-street-art-111320 |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Time Out Melbourne |date=13 November 2020 |language=en-AU}}</ref> Along with other artists including Adnate, Meggs, and Mayonaize, Rone was given access to several storefronts whose tenants had vacated during the previous year’s slump. Rone painted a depiction of Sleeping Beauty to represent a city finally waking up after a long slumber.<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Side Place Artcade |url=https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/event/west-side-place-artcade |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Broadsheet |language=en}}</ref>

Nearly 15 years after leaving his hometown of Geelong, Rone was invited back to the city he littered in illegal stencils as teen to have a solo exhibition at the [[Geelong Art Gallery]], one of the largest regional galleries in Australia. In addition to turning their main wing into an immersive installation, it was also  the first comprehensive survey of Rone’s career.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-16 |title=RONE in Geelong |url=https://artsreview.com.au/rone-in-geelong/ |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Australian Arts Review |language=en-AU}}</ref> A large room exhibited a retrospective of his work, charting his practice from early stencils and street art to photographs documenting all of his major installations. Nearly 50,000 people passed through over 80 days.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RONE in Geelong {{!}} Geelong Gallery |url=https://www.geelonggallery.org.au/whats-on/exhibitions/rone |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=www.geelonggallery.org.au}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[List of Australian street artists]]
*[[Types of graffiti]]
*[[List of graffiti artists]]
*[[Spray paint art]]

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
*{{Official website}}

{{Street art}}

[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1980 births]]
[[Category:Artists from Melbourne]]
[[Category:Australian graffiti artists]]