Rone – Fall from Grace exhibition

Rone – Fall from Grace at Backwoods Gallery, 29 June - 15 July

Best known for the distinctive female centrepieces of his paste ups and murals on the walls of Melbourne, globetrotting street artist Rone returns to his home town for his first local show of 2012 in the more conventional surroundings of Collingwood's Backwoods Gallery.

Fall from Grace sees Rone continue to showcase his female muse, but in a different light across 12 new works – four on canvas (including one triptych), four on brick and four on paper, all peeled, tattered and aged to reflect the outdoor environment he's accustomed to working in.

Fall from Grace explores the idea of personal change through the rise and fall of a modern heroine, utilising the textures of hand painted signage, torn bill posters and deteriorating walls to symbolise the evolution of his lead character; how beauty can hide the darkest scars; how behind every light there is darkness. Inspired by recent travels through the faded beauty of Miami and Cuba, he draws on a palette of muted colours to pay homage of the 1980s – a time when style, questionable or otherwise, was all that mattered.

"We all have moments in our lives that make us who we are," says Rone of the message at the heart of Fall from Grace. The scale of the works may not reach the epic heights he's already reached on walls in London, Paris and Hawaii this year, but the scale of his ambition is as impressive as ever.



About Rone

Rone's posters are some of the most iconic in Australia, hiding under overpasses throughout Melbourne. He is renowned for the stylised images of 'girls' faces – it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he's had more posters in his home town's streets than any other artist in history.

Rone is one of the original members of Everfresh Studios where he still works daily. His 'girls' come with him as he travels and now appear on the streets of Los Angeles, New York, London, Toyko, Barcelona and Hong Kong. Of all the stencil artists from the initial Melbourne stencil boom of the early 2000s, he is the only one still consistently putting his work up.

Rone's art has been acquisitioned by the National Gallery of Australia, and in 2011 he sold out his first ever solo show in Melbourne before it even opened, highlighting his status as the literal poster boy of Australia's next crop of street artists.

Fall from Grace is his first solo show of 2012, coming on the back of an invitation to Hawaii's Pow Wow convention of contemporary street artists in February and the joint Don't Look Back exhibition with Brit Tom French at London's Zero Cool Gallery in April.

Rone returns to San Francisco's in September for a show at the Californian cultural hub's esteemed White Walls Gallery following a successful San Fran debut for the Young & Free showcase of Australian street artists at 941 Geary in 2011.

Fall from Grace – a solo exhibition by Rone
At Backwoods Gallery
25 Easey Street, Collingwood, Victoria
Friday 29 June (opening night) - Sunday 15 July, 2012
12 works: four on canvas (including one triptych), four on brick, four on paper