Street artist Rone brightens the daily tram commute

ROLLING CANVAS: Geelong street artist Rone and Arts Minister Heidi Victoria get on board.

By NOEL MURPHY

GEELONG street artist Rone has his work adorning buildings in Berlin, Miami, Hawaii, London, San Francisco and Paris … now his elegant work is on show on one of Melbourne’s iconic trams.

Rone, the nom de plume of graphic designer Tyrone Wright, started his assault on the art world by decorating skateboards and skateparks before moving into Melbourne’s inner-city streets and lanes, then galleries and exhibitions.

Over the past decade, Rone has taken his work to cityscapes in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Barcelona, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Queenstown. One of his most striking works is a nine-storey high mural dubbed  L’Inconnue de la Rue – Unknown Girl of the Street – in Collins Street, Melbourne.

Rone’s work is typically of beautiful women

Arts Minister Heidi Victoria this week launched the first of eight new moving artworks – by Rone — to be rolled out across Melbourne’s trams.

“This first tram in the series … has a distinctly Melbourne flavour – bringing the vibrant, layered aesthetic of Melbourne’s laneway culture to the main thoroughfares of the city,” Ms Victoria said.

“It captures the spirit of the Melbourne Art Trams program, and the spirit of contemporary Melbourne.”