Melbourne street artist Rone was one of the leading lights in the Victorian capital’s stencil boom of the early 2000s – now he’s in such high demand he reckons he spends more times on the streets when he’s anywhere but his home town. Red Bull HQ caught up with the man during a rare stint back on home turf as he prepares to launch Fall From Grace, his debut solo exhibition of 2012.
Red Bull: You've already done quite a bit of globetrotting in 2012 – what exactly have you been up to on your travels?
R: I started a huge trip back in December that didn't see me get home until early Jan this year. I started in Miami for [international contemporary art fair] Art Basel then headed down to Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, then across to Paris and London before heading home via Hong Kong. It was an intense trip; with a very limited time in each spot, it meant I only really had time to put up posters except for Miami. Since then I went over to Hawaii for Pow Wow and back to Paris and London for a small joint show with Tom French.
RB: The Pow Wow convention in Hawaii must have been an amazing experience – what was your own experience of working there, and what else did you take out of it?
R: Pow Wow was just that, an experience. It's still hard to define what Pow Wow is, as it was about meeting a bunch of new people, hanging out, painting walls and working with the Hawaiian community. Hard to pick a stand out from that crowd, but as someone’s work that I didn't know that well before Pow Wow, I'd have to say Angry Woebots style is awesome.
RB: Working in a different country and environment could potentially be disorienting, like an office worker having to work away from their own desk, for example. Do you even have problems adapting to working in different environments?
R: Yes and no. The downside is you don't have easy access to the materials you may have at home. No paint, no ladder, no brush, it can suck to borrow or buy stuff you know you have at home. But the best thing about working in another country is you are completely void of any other responsibilities. Nowhere to be at any time, no one calling you, just time to focus on what you love doing.
RB: Where did the concept of the Fall From Grace exhibition come to you?
R: The concept was built from things I had seen on my travels. I always take photos of deteriorating walls, ripped posters and the colours of the buildings. Then I try to emulate these textures and colours in my work.
RB: When you plan a show, do you start painting with an exhibition space in mind?
R: Yeah I’m one of those people who plan everything down to the very last detail. Things like ‘how big are the doors to the gallery?’, so I can work out the max canvas size I can work with. I never really know how a painting will really look when it is finished, but I'll always have the composition worked out long before I start.
RB: Do you still get much time to check out the work of the new generation of Melbourne street artists?
R: Yeah I'm always seeing fresh work around Melbourne – that's what makes it so interesting. A stand out for me would be the work of Shida.
RB: What do you remember about your early days of doing paste-ups in Melbourne?
R: What got me started was people like Ha-Ha, Psalm and Sync. Seeing their work motivated to get my own stuff out there. Paste-ups soon became my favourite medium as they were so much quicker to put up than anything else. I never really set out to have my artwork recognised like it is today, like in permanent government collections, but what an honour it is. I just saw my work as transient back then, only to be recognised by those who had seen it on the street. Today my focus is a bit different and it just gets harder and harder to be recognised as there are so many great artists out there, especially when you try to put yourself on a world platform.
RB: What are you plans for the remainder of 2012 - and beyond?
I'm about to start work on a show for White Walls Gallery in San Francisco for September, then I hope to have a bit of a break before heading back to Miami in December and start over all again...
Rone’s Fall from Grace shows at Backwoods Gallery, 25 Easey Street, Collingwood from Friday 29 June (opening night) to Sunday 15 July, 2012. For more information, go to Rone’s Blog.
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