Alpha
Feb, 2017
"Rone's Alpha Project has been completed inside the machine rooms of the old Alphington Paper Mills on Heidelberg Road which starts to be demolished today. The iconic brutalist brick buildings will make way for one of Australia’s largest urban renewal mini-suburb, YarraBend.
This work is an extension of Rone’s “Empty” series which was unveiled last year and investigates the themes of beauty and decay. In “Empty”, Rone secretly created murals in abandoned houses and building around Melbourne and documented these works in a photographic print series.
Last weekend, only a small group of people were able to view the works before they were painted over and set for demolition.
The concept of documenting contemporary street art prior to its imminent removal takes the genre to a new level. This significant evolution has been recognised by the arts community via the addition of Rone’s “Empty” being placed in the NGVs permanent collection.
Art collector and owner of the YarraBend development, Len Warson said he was thrilled with this project as it marks the beginning of series of artistic collaborations for the site. “One of our key pillars for YarraBend is arts and culture, so to start our journey with these works by Rone is very exciting,” said Warson.
