I’ve Seen Fire and I’ve Seen Rain (Empty)

Rone (Tyrone Wright)
born Geelong 1980; lives and works in Melbourne

I’ve Seen Fire and I’ve Seen Rain (Empty) 2016
archival pigment print on 310 gsm Canson Baryta; edition 3 of 3
Geelong Gallery
Purchased with funds generously provided by Geelong Contemporary, 2019

This work is from a series exhibited by Rone in 2016 as part of his occupation of the now-demolished Art Nouveau Star Lyric Theatre building which stood on Johnston Street, Fitzroy. The installation consisted of photographs documenting murals in abandoned and derelict houses, mixed media portraits on canvas (including Too Much, exhibited in this survey) and a large- scale mural painted in-situ and incorporating elements of an existing 100-year-old trompe l’oeil painting.

I’ve Seen Fire and I’ve Seen Rain encapsulates Rone’s modus operandum of juxtaposing beauty against decay: here he promotes an appreciation of the history and melancholy of an abandoned but once inhabited—and once loved—domestic space. A concept echoed in the lyrics of James Taylor’s 1970 song (from which Rone has drawn his work’s title): ‘But I always thought that I’d see you again’.