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. 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. Based on the success of OMEGA, Rone was invited to turn the iconic 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 whole 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 that spoke to the manor’s rich history. 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. 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. 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. 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. See also List of Australian street artists Types of graffiti List of graffiti artists Spray paint art References External links Website Living people 1980 births Artists from Melbourne Australian graffiti artists