Rone Is Putting On an Epic Exhibition in an Abandoned Office Building

When you plaster giant, ornate portraits of beautiful women across the walls of nine-storey buildings, you're bound to get a name for yourself. Accordingly, Melbourne street artist Rone has become quite the sensation. Since bursting onto the local scene in the early 2000s, his work has been shown in London, New York, San Francisco, Miami and Hong Kong. Now, he's returning to where it all began for his first Australian show in two years.

From October 24, Rone will present 11 new, large-scale portraits in — and on — an abandoned office building on Little Collins Street. The exhibition, Lumen, will be created with the help of lighting designer John McKissock, as the artworks will be illuminated from the building's decrepit, black walls. The artist will also create a 12-metre high mural on the building's ventilation tower.

Adding to the creepy feel of the whole thing, the building has actually been slated for demolition, and it will presumably still be knocked down once the exhibition is over. Rone has an ongoing interest in transforming these kind of derelict and forgotten places. He's initiated similar projects in Mexico, Louisiana and New Orleans in the past.

"Each of these places have, in recent times, been deeply affected by natural disaster, crime or debilitating economic situations," said the artist. "There is a genuine sense of community in these places, people embrace and appreciate what I'm doing."

While Little Collins Street is a far cry from the Mexican city of Juarez, it's just as easy to understand Rone's fostering of local community in this latest Melbourne project. His mural at Rue & Co is still a much-loved icon of the CBD; people converge on it to take photos, drop their jaws in awe and meet friends for delicious Korean fried chicken.

This support for the artist is evident in his other projects too. He's just been hand-selected by Jean Paul Gaultier himself to create installation works for the NGV's latest exhibition, and the Melbourne Festival has just plastered his art across one of the city's trams.

Make sure you get a chance to check out this epic exhibition while it lasts — this guy's in high demand.

Lumen will be on show on Level One, 109 Little Collins Street, Melbourne from October 24 to November 9. For more information, see the website.