Rone, Flinders St Station Ballroom

When Rone exhibited in Burnham Beeches in the Dandenong Ranges, the tickets were sold out so quickly that we didn't get a chance to go. This time, we booked early and last weekend we went to his exhibition in the Flinders St Station Ballroom. As the name suggests, the venue is above Flinders Street Station, and partly refurbished. The ballroom is accessed via a narrow corridor so it does detract a little from the grandeur of a function held there. I can imagine line dances and rock n roll dances held in the place and less waltzes and other ballroom dances. 

The exhibition is called TIME. There are 12 paintings each exhibited in a room, besides the freebie painting (last picture) in the gift shop on the ground floor. We took about 1.5 hours strolling through the space but there is so many little details to take in that you can easily spend more time here. But be warned,  there is a lack of seating unlike a gallery so it might be tiring to be on the feet all that time. 

Rone started painting his signature young women faces in shades as a graffiti artist, on walls with irregular features like windows and pipes. He has done the same here except the paintings are on not only walls but also cabinet doors, books, and posters. It reminds me of Red Hong Yi's paintings which amazed me with its versatility of the medium used, much like the versatility of the canvas used here.  

Besides the paintings, he spent 3 years on curating furniture and materials used in the exhibition. Everything from old chairs, antique china, typewriters, old books and magazines, old newspapers that pappered the windows in the corridors were meticulously collected and displayed. They were 'aged' and arranged like Chernobyl happened in the middle of a normal work or school day. 

The intention of the display is to express the passing of time, which it did very well. There were even fake cobwebs and mould. As a clean freak, I felt compelled to get the vacumm and mop out. 

If you are wondering about the girl in the paintings, she is model Teresa Oman. Like in Burnham Beeches (actress Lily Sutherland was his muse in the project), every painting is of the same person. I wish I looked that good when not smiling. 

At the end of the exhibition, there are opportunities to buy merchandise including books, ivy in a resin block and prints at the gift shop on Level 2 and ground floor. 

TIME by Rone will be at Flinder Street Station until 23 April 23. Tickets can be purchased via Rone's website.