Monday, November 18, 2013
Lumiere festival of light dazzles Durham
Durham’s dazzling light display 'Lumiere' returned to the city last night for a weekend of lasers, colourful projections and neon artworks
The third festival transformed the northern city into a magical wonderland with more than 25 conceptual light installations from around the world dotted around the market place, river and streets.
Read more...
Giant neon Playboy logo ordered to be removed
FILE - In this July 3, 2013 file photo, Playboy Marfa, a new art installation depicting the iconic Playbory bunny logo and a classic 1970's muscle car on a tilted platform, is shown along U.S. 90 about a mile West of Marfa, Texas. The neon bunny that’s part of the “Playboy Marfa” sculpture by New York contemporary artist Richard Phillips will be dismantled and moved from the roadside on U.S. 90 to the Dallas Contemporary museum near the city’s downtown read more...
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Lariat Motel neon sign lights up sky
Mayor Ken Tedford Jr. vaguely remembers
the first years of the Lariat Motel, which once stood where today’s
Maverick serves customers.
It was altogether fitting that the city’s
top elected official turned on the switch Thursday to light the neon
signs of the motel to signal the beginning of Fallon’s events to honor
Nevada’s year-long celebration of its sesquicentennial.
Ray and Dee Dee Ferguson donated the sign
to the Churchill Arts Council in 2005. The sign was perched on two poles
at the Arts Council where the re-lighting ceremony occurred.
“The 150th celebrations starts right now
and also on Nevada’s real birthday,” said Tedford, who described himself
as a traditionalist for honoring the state’s birthday on the official
day. “This sign is iconic. People who traveled through Fallon would
remember the sign and the rope that the cowboy lassoed around the motel
sign.”
Valerie Serpa, executive director of the
Arts Council, said when the motel and its land were sold, she said the
Fergusons wanted to ensure the sign did not go away. Volunteers placed
the sign on a truck and hauled it to one of the hangars at the Fallon
Municipal Airport for storage. Over the years, Serpa said it cost
$16,000 to restore the sign.
“It has the original neon,” Serpa said
minutes after the re-lighting. “It is really unusual for a sign to have
the original tubing.” Read more...
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Opening night of the Bogan Neon Show Auckland New Zealand
www.boganneon.co.nz
A great opening night for the Bogan Neon show in Auckland and hundreds through the show on the first day.Already it has been requested to extend the show for another two weeks. The response has been fantastic with request for the show to tour other citys .
Thank you to all that made this happen .
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
[Eastside Eye] Street Art: Our Neon-Lit Neighborhood
Around Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Echo Park are fine examples of vintage neon signs, once the street side calling card of choice. Today these pieces of cultural history are more valued than ever and efforts are made to preserve the finest creations.
“Neon is hand-crafted and what is hand-crafted in our world today?” said Kim Koga, director of the Museum of Neon Art (MONA), which will open in Glendale in mid-2015.
As Los Angeles’ development extended to the suburbs, much of the historic core and downtown’s vintage neon remained.
Koga points to the House of Spirits’ sign on Echo Park Avenue as a “treasure,” and admires the Jensen’s Recreation Center sign on Sunset Blvd. Neon was a popular medium inside too and vintage neon clocks are a favorite of collectors.
“It’s the most commercial rated lighting,” said neon artist and restorer Curtis Stimpson of Curtis Clocks in Burbank.
At one time, there were four neon clockmakers in Los Angeles.
“Every business, store and restaurant had a clock and there were courtesy clocks everywhere,” said Stimpson. “Neon light is so smooth, warm and inviting and it can fill an area like no other light.”
A standout neon clock can be found at Thomas Rug Cleaning and Ararat Oriental Rug on Riverside Drive.
Harry Torkomian, partner along with his father, commissioned Curtis Clocks to restore their neon clock, which had been painted over.
It “has a beauty to it and is very eye-catching,” said Torkomian. When MONA’s new building opens Los Angeles will once again have a venue where neon art can be appreciated. Meanwhile, its collection can be viewed in Montclair during the monthly Pomona Art Walk, every second Saturday. A holiday open-air neon cruise bus tour, which includes Los Feliz and Sunset Boulevard, is set for Sat. Dec. 21st.
Patrick Martinez juxtaposes art and life with neon signs in an ordinary California grocery store.
[The signs are] just ideas and concepts I have. They are executed thoughts and observations in the visual form, some from my conscious some from my subconscious. My art represents the Los Angeles landscape and the people in it.
Known for his ironic neon signage, Los Angeles artist Patrick Martinez recently showcased some works in an unlikely location. Amid aisles of prepackaged food, beer, and lotto ticket machines at the El Tapatio Market in Bell Gardens, California, hung signs such as ‘Thugs Need Hugs Daily,’ blending in (at least on first glance) seamlessly with the store. The ‘lowbrow’ setting serves to inspire other creators to consider art outside the gallery by juxtaposing it with the everyday.
But despite the signs’ wit and pop cultural relevancy, Martinez says they don’t convey any sort of social agenda. In a 2012 interview with La Taco, he explained: Read more...
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Accepted here: introducing the bitcoin neon sign
The neon bitcoin sign has arrived.
In order to add some pizzazz to the act of spending in bitcoins, a redditor has built a vibrant sign so that merchants can easily let customers know that they accept bitcoin.
"You are (on) an island" goes to England
Funded! This project successfully raised its funding goal on Sep 27, 2012.
152 Backers
$12,397
pledged of
$12,000
goal
KICKSTARTER
A guerilla public art tour that culminates in an exhibition at Neon Workshops in Wakefield, England.
About the work
You are (on) an island is a large blue neon sign that states quite literally, "You are on an island." The word ‘on’ blinks rhythmically on and off, and for the moments that word remains unilluminated, a new phrase with a different meaning emerges - “You are an island.” by Alicia Eggert & Mike FlemingSunday, October 27, 2013
Chattanooga restaurant's neon frog sign coming back to life
Barry Snyder, left, and Scott Coffey survey the old Ellis Restaurant's jumping frog sign with plans on restoring it to working order. The unique sign and former restaurant are situated directly across the street from the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
A giant green neon frog may jump again in downtown Chattanooga.An effort is underway to restore the Ellis Restaurant sign at 1443 Market St. across from the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
In its heyday, the sign blazed in Art Deco glory. A green neon frog -- advertising the restaurant's frog legs -- jumped over such neon-lit menu items as "steaks," "chops" and "spaghetti." The words "Ellis Restaurant" stood out in red neon surrounded by more than 600 white incandescent bulbs.
Like moths drawn to a flame, local diners and out-of-town luminaries -- including heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey and pro football quarterback Joe Namath -- ate at the Ellis Restaurant, which closed in the late 1970s.
"It's a piece of art," building owner Scott Coffey said of the sign. "I'm one of those who believes art shouldn't be in somebody's house. I believe art should be where people can enjoy it."
Read more...
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Text Based Neon Art From Bruce Nauman And Six Other Artists
Text art seems to be popping up everywhere these days in a multitude of diverse forms, although the use of text in art is inarguably not a new movement. However, when it comes to using words in visual art, several artists of different ages and sub-genres have found ways to burn their words into our brains. The pieces featured here have real stay-power. Whether the artist employs a blinking pattern between words, such as Bruce Nauman does, or draws rawly from their cultural background and related personal experience, such as Glenn Ligon and Patrick Martinez, these works deliver a very contemporary message. With simple language, and a sometimes poetic-sometimes brash- sense of honesty, these neon text-based works transcend many other works of text based art made today. Artists featured here include: Bruce Nauman, Patrick Martinez, Tracey Emin, Jill Magid, Glenn Ligon, Robert Montgomery and Jung Lee. The works speak for themselves- yet we encourage you to read between the lines.
Read more...
Palm Desert council to vote on neon sign ordinance
A neon sign maker shows his skills at his Cathedral City business. Palm Desert City Council is set this week to vote on whether to allow neon signs in business windows, something it was poised to do a month ago before members asked for feedback from El Paseo merchants, who would still be barred from using them.
read more...
Meet the artists behind the new Rainier ‘R’
Zeek "Built" Warzecha smiles as he looks out at the "R" sign, reflected in his sunglasses, during the first Rainier Beer "R Crawl" stop at 9 LB Hammer in Georgetown. Before the sign returns Thursday to the top of the old brewery, the signature neon is touring the city on a flatbed trailer this afternoon.
For Western Neon, the company that manufactured the new “R” that will sit atop the old Rainier brewery, iconic Seattle signage is a familiar task. The company will raise the giant letter in a big party on Oct. 24.
As Seattleites watch the new 12-foot Rainier Brewing “R” being hoisted atop the old brewery along Interstate 5 later this week, some onlookers will be holding their breath.
“When you go to plug it in, you just hope that it works,” said Andre Lucero, president of Western Neon, which fabricated the new “R.” “During travel, while the crane is picking it up, anything could break. And then you have this major countdown, and it doesn’t light ... ”
READ MORE...
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tracey Emin Neon Sculptures Up for Auction to Benefit the Museum of Contemporary Art
Tracey Emin sure must love Miami.
It's not just that this city is lit with neon, one of the British artist's favorite mediums. Or that Emin selected Miami as the home of her first works in the collection of an American Museum; the Museum of Contemporary Art purchased Emin's video Why I Never Became a Dancer in 1998. It's not just that that same museum will host the artist's first solo show in a U.S. museum during Art Basel this year, either.
Emin and MOCA clearly have a long-standing relationship, and Emin's proving it's anything but one-sided. Today, MOCA announced that Emin has donated five of her neon works to be auctioned off to benefit the museum.
The series of five sculptures, each one a glowing, 3-D version of the word "Loving" scrawled in Emin's own handwriting, will go up for auction by New York City auction house Philips on Nov. 6. There'll be a live auction right on Park Avenue that evening (how very ritzy), but interested Miami buyers can place bids via email or phone.
Not that you're going to win an original Emin, you shlub. In 2007, her work was valued between $24,000 and $700,000, and Emin's fame has only increased since then.
The auction is still good news for Miami art lovers, however; those prices mean more funding for MOCA, which has a track record of supporting fledgling artists (like Emin was in 1998) into prominent art careers. As MOCA chairman Dr. Kira Flanzraich explains in a release, "Tracey's remarkable generosity is indicative of the close ties that MOCA engenders with its artists, many of whom have received their first significant exposure in the United States with exhibitions at the museum."
Neon lighting used in new NAB building in Docklands
Neon lights from Delta Neon have been used in the lighting design of the new NAB building in Docklands, Melbourne.
Designed by Woods Bagot, the entire building is based on triangular themes even down to the clusters of decorative lighting.
NDYLight were the principal lighting consultants on the project and specified two kilometres of cold cathode lighting.
Logistically, it would be very hard to maintain the lighting for the building, however with cold cathode lighting many hours of changing lights have been saved, with maintenance and cost of the lights both reduced.
Lux levels of the cold cathode put out more lumens per watt than LEDs, so to achieve the current lux level of the building would require more energy and colour rendering.
Custom made white triphosphor tubing was used throughout, with the feature lighting having a lifespan which exceeds 200,000 hours.
NAB wanted to move its operations to a new Docklands site where they wanted to use products which exceeded quality expectations without sacrificing on sustainability.
Neon lights were used as NAB wanted to achieve a 7 Star energy rating for the building.
Designed by Woods Bagot, the entire building is based on triangular themes even down to the clusters of decorative lighting.
NDYLight were the principal lighting consultants on the project and specified two kilometres of cold cathode lighting.
Logistically, it would be very hard to maintain the lighting for the building, however with cold cathode lighting many hours of changing lights have been saved, with maintenance and cost of the lights both reduced.
Lux levels of the cold cathode put out more lumens per watt than LEDs, so to achieve the current lux level of the building would require more energy and colour rendering.
Custom made white triphosphor tubing was used throughout, with the feature lighting having a lifespan which exceeds 200,000 hours.
NAB wanted to move its operations to a new Docklands site where they wanted to use products which exceeded quality expectations without sacrificing on sustainability.
Neon lights were used as NAB wanted to achieve a 7 Star energy rating for the building.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Chief to shine again: Neon sign effort continues in Old Town Pocatello
POCATELLO — Memories of movies seen for the first time in Pocatello’s Chief Theater came flooding back to folks gathered for Friday’s official groundbreaking ceremony for restoration of the theater’s iconic neon sign on the 200 block of North Main.
Dixon said there are more than 20 neon signs in the downtown area of the Gate City, and nine of them will be lit when the annual Light Up the Night Parade is held Nov. 29. Among those will be the massive Scott’s Ski and Sports sign on the front of the historic Peterson Building across North Main from the Chief sign.
Old Town Pocatello
director Stephanie Palagi said there will be a grand opening for a new
Purple Moon Gallery and Auction House that is being established by Sam
Neutuschil in the Peterson Building on Nov. 29 to coincide with the
Chief sign relighting.
Read more...
Read more...
Behind the studio door with James St. Germaine
James St. Germaine makes art with a rare earth element, a colorless, odorless gas that is produced in the solar system by a fusion process of stars!
And, indeed, this artist gets stars in his eyes when he talks about his passion for “painting with light,” where he incorporates the monatomic gas neon into his paintings and sculptures.
The West Wareham artist was washing up at a sink one day and accidentally splashed water onto a mirror above the sink, when a beam of sunlight illuminated the water dripping down the mirror. He describes being so excited by this effect that he wanted to capture it on canvas with paint.
Paint alone didn’t satisfy, so he experimented with electric light shining through his paintings from behind the canvass, which gave him some satisfaction.
But one lucky day at a flea market, St. Germaine saw an old neon sign and, as he describes it, “a light bulb went on and now I’m crazy for neon, trying to find it everywhere.”
Each of the old signs is a length of glass tubing filled with neon gas and bent and twisted into a kind of cursive script that may, for example, say ice, open or camel. Often the words themselves are the inspiration for a new work of art.
The artist also collects quantities of discarded wood and metal that will be incorporated into his work. A bowling ball he found rolling down the road now tops a yard sculpture
St. Germaine’s studio is a trim little building about the size of a one-car garage behind his house. There’s no mistaking its purpose. There are giant painted wood letters over the door shouting “Jim’s Studio.” The front wall of the little building is covered with giant images of camels. A visitor is instantly intrigued by the energy and scale of the outer decoration and is eager to see what is inside.
The studio door opens to a lively space full of tall sculptures and paintings, a room so full of paint, shapes, letters and words that it seems like a party crowded with interesting people having conversations. Jim introduces the pieces with an almost breathless excitement, giving details of the inspiration, materials and evolution of each one.
“Have you seen this one lit up?” he asks as he begins to plug in the cords and transformers that hang all over the studio. On one wall is a humorous self-portrait that is lit from behind by blinking lights that outline his face. On another is an abstract painting with the illuminated word “priceless” running down the side. Attached to this painting is a shelf with three objects – each one is something handmade by his three granddaughters. Jim handles the small objects with care and says with a catch in his voice, “priceless!”
And, indeed, this artist gets stars in his eyes when he talks about his passion for “painting with light,” where he incorporates the monatomic gas neon into his paintings and sculptures.
The West Wareham artist was washing up at a sink one day and accidentally splashed water onto a mirror above the sink, when a beam of sunlight illuminated the water dripping down the mirror. He describes being so excited by this effect that he wanted to capture it on canvas with paint.
Paint alone didn’t satisfy, so he experimented with electric light shining through his paintings from behind the canvass, which gave him some satisfaction.
But one lucky day at a flea market, St. Germaine saw an old neon sign and, as he describes it, “a light bulb went on and now I’m crazy for neon, trying to find it everywhere.”
Each of the old signs is a length of glass tubing filled with neon gas and bent and twisted into a kind of cursive script that may, for example, say ice, open or camel. Often the words themselves are the inspiration for a new work of art.
The artist also collects quantities of discarded wood and metal that will be incorporated into his work. A bowling ball he found rolling down the road now tops a yard sculpture
St. Germaine’s studio is a trim little building about the size of a one-car garage behind his house. There’s no mistaking its purpose. There are giant painted wood letters over the door shouting “Jim’s Studio.” The front wall of the little building is covered with giant images of camels. A visitor is instantly intrigued by the energy and scale of the outer decoration and is eager to see what is inside.
The studio door opens to a lively space full of tall sculptures and paintings, a room so full of paint, shapes, letters and words that it seems like a party crowded with interesting people having conversations. Jim introduces the pieces with an almost breathless excitement, giving details of the inspiration, materials and evolution of each one.
“Have you seen this one lit up?” he asks as he begins to plug in the cords and transformers that hang all over the studio. On one wall is a humorous self-portrait that is lit from behind by blinking lights that outline his face. On another is an abstract painting with the illuminated word “priceless” running down the side. Attached to this painting is a shelf with three objects – each one is something handmade by his three granddaughters. Jim handles the small objects with care and says with a catch in his voice, “priceless!”
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Wattage Industry There’s more to urban lighting than illumination
Decades before Hillary Clinton chaired a health care task force and Nancy Reagan urged new drug enforcement laws, Lady Bird Johnson declared war on neon lights. Specifically, she fought for the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, lamenting what she called “endless corridors walled in by neon, junk, and ruined landscape.”
Today, neon signs may not seem like a first-lady-worthy
scourge. After all, every city-dwelling North American can probably
think of a beloved neon landmark, from Boston’s CITGO sign (which was
replaced by LED lights in 2005) to the smiling pink pachyderm
advertising Seattle’s Elephant Car Wash. At the time, though, Lady Bird
Johnson was not alone in her views: Even before their exuberant heyday
in the 1920s and ’30s came to an end, neon lights had become, for some,
“emblematic of the decline of Western civilization,” observes Christoph
Ribbat.
Ribbat is a professor of American studies at Germany’s
University of Paderborn, and his writing is larded with irrelevant
detail—“A long-term study shows that 75 per cent of successful country
songs between 1960 and 1987 were love songs”—and sometimes baffling. On
the other hand, he’s done a prodigious amount of research. Flickering Light
details the history of neon as a medium for advertising and art,
beginning with the British chemist William Ramsay’s discovery of the
noble gas in 1898. Twelve years later, a French engineer, Georges
Claude, demonstrated the first neon lights, made with electrified glass
tubes. Read more...
Bronze Boot auction
Bidders head for the indoor items at Tuesday's Bronze Boot auction sale in north Grand Forks. The large neon sign atop the restaurant was sold to Wade Pearson of Home of Economy and will be on display inside the store. Read more....
See the neon sign go up at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Kalamazoo, theater to open in mid-November
A crew from Signart installed the new neon sign for Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in downtown Kalamazoo Friday morning. The new restaurant-style movie theater will be open in November. Read more...
An artist’s rendering of clichés, by South Korean Jung Lee
“I dream of you”; “I still remember you”; “How could you do this to me.” These are words we hear all the time. And we hardly ever stop to think about what they really mean. But South Korean artist Jung Lee has spent a lot of time trying to understand the connotations of these common clichés and delving deep into the emotions behind these words.
In her photographic works,
she combines neon sculptures of everyday phrases with various outdoor
environments to create haunting landscapes that invite viewers to
contemplate on human relationships and the sense of isolation that is
part of modern urban life.Read more...
The End Of Steaks, Cows And A Giant Neon Cactus On Route 1
This week, the owners of Hilltop Steak House called it quits, announcing a closure date of Oct. 20. The Hilltop has been a steak-lover's destination for 52 years, and it's the latest in a string of closings of great Boston-area restaurants.Read more...
Duane Linklater of Ontario wins $50K Sobey Art Award
Multidiscipline artist Duane Linklater, who creates thought-provoking work exploring First Nations identity in the context of contemporary society, is the latest winner of the $50,000 Sobey Art Award, one of Canada's most prestigious visual arts honours. Read more ...
Saturday, October 05, 2013
"ALL LIT UP!" - New Art by Gigi Horr Liverant & Mundy Hepburn
OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT - "Fiery!", "Electric!", "Hypnotic!" are only some of the anticipated exclamations at this upcoming Cooley Gallery exhibition. Two Connecticut natives will be featured in All Lit Up!, pastel artist Gigi Horr Liverant and neon artist Mundy Hepburn.
"This colorful and energetic exhibition is a perfect parallel to the season when the ordinary in nature transforms into the sublime. The electric colors in All Lit Up! are a siren call to a visual feast, enjoy and indulge before the season goes away!” says gallery owner Jeff Cooley.
Alongside, above and below Gigi's paintings are Mundy's neon sculptures: fantastic creations of lampworked glass so seductive you almost pity their poor "OPEN" sign neon cousins. They vibrate and prance as if echoing the playful and curious mind of their creator. Mundy's been described as a pioneer of neon art successfully combining elements to create movement and colors previously unappreciated.
"Everyone wants to be near Mundy's creations. People seem confounded by Mundy's work, startled by his open invitation to imagine and play through his fantastic visions in neon," observes the gallerist.
Mundy is an unabashedly self-taught artist who has had numerous gallery and museum exhibitions and lives and creates in Old Saybrook.
Mind your Q’s and U’s in the home of ‘Breaking Bad’ and Route 66
Historic Route 66: Reserve a few hours to take a self-guided cruise along Old Route 66 — now Central Avenue. You’ll pass the historic KiMo Theatre in downtown Albuquerque, the University of New Mexico campus, countless diners and dives, and the eclectic boutiques of the Nob Hill Historic District. The highlight, though, is the collection of neon signs, many of them vintage, that get to buzzing around dusk.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/04/4524958/mind-your-qs-and-us-in-the-home.html#storylink=cpy
Stateside Theatre neon sign to blaze brightly tonight
The Stateside Theatre neon blade sign in downtown Austin will shine brightly again beginning Wednesday night. The 1935 sign had gone dark until the “Ready, Set, Glow” fundraising campaign, along with a grant from the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, raised $62,000 to repair it.
The sign restoration, which began in August, was handled by Todd Sanders of Austin's Roadhouse Relics.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Artist Steve Lambert's Capitalism Works For Me lets passersby take a stand by hitting a 'true' or 'false' button.
New York-based artist Steve Lambert’s ”Capitalism Works For Me” project is a 9 ft by 20 ft by 7 ft illuminated sign that lets passersby vote on the statement by pushing a “true” or “false” button on a podium that comes with the sign. As the passersby choose their stand, their answers are added to the sign’s scoreboard.
Created in 2011, the interactive neon sign has been exhibited in cities across the United States. The sign was displayed recently at Times Square and will be exhibited again in October for the 2013 Crossing The Line Festival and Times Square Arts. read more....
Bright future
Bethany Improvement Foundation members hope a billboard museum would spur tourism.
“Today, we think of billboards as this rectangle thing on a pole,” said Kathy Anderson of the the Bethany Improvement Foundation.
But in the heyday of Route 66, billboards were often lower to the ground, displayed hand-painted art or art deco design and sometimes even were three-dimensional structures with people inside demonstrating products, she said.
“They were designed for a slower lifestyle,” Anderson said. “It was a very different feel to things.”
The museum will tell the evolution of the structures, neon and porcelain signs and the artists who designed and painted them.
Read more....
Exhibition Features 30 Of The Most Influential Contemporary Black Artists
One family has produced area's signs of the times
By then, Roy C. Kinsey Sign Co. had taken a major step that paved the way for a lot of its future business, and some of the biggest and most famous projects it would ever do. In 1933 it opened a neon sign plant, the first in Virginia.
Read more....
Photographing Shop Signs & Window Displays
A medium zoom lens with your DSLR will get you close to the signs without you having to borrow some ladders off a window cleaner and it'll also work for capturing shop windows too. You'll also need to carry a tripod if you plan on returning later in the evening when the neon's get switched on. It'll also help if you have a camera that performs well in low light, such as the Canon EOS 70D, and if you don't want the street reflected in your shot take a polariser along as well.
Read more....
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Sam the Record Man sign maker hopes his neon records spin again
Jack Markle created the Sam the Record Man sign
and the computer that illuminated Honest Ed’s. He’s saddened Toronto's
neon history is fading.
Jack Markle, 74, has illuminated Toronto's streets since the 1960s. He
designed the Sam the Record Man sign and built the computer that runs
the Honest Ed's sign.
The Rainier Beer ‘R’ and other Seattle neon we love and miss
If you like neon and Seattle’s cultural icons – and want to see cool old
pictures of dancing Rainier Beers – this slideshow will fulfill that
need.
Meet the Walthamstow geezer with a heart of neon
A couple of weeks back we told you about God’s Own Junkyard – a beautifully chaotic showroom-slash-museum of neon art in
Walthamstow, which is sadly due to close as (yep, you guessed it)
developers want to build flats on the site. If you’ve not got time to
squeeze in a visit before the shutters roll down for good, check out our
video tour with Chris Bracey, the no-nonsense east London geezer
responsible for the city’s single biggest collection of illuminated art.
Friday, September 27, 2013
A piece of L.A. history awaits a return to its neon glamour
A 1958 Grauman's dragon was used for decades, then lost and
eventually found — trashed. The Museum of Neon Art is looking for money
to restore it to its former glory.
Artist reflects on his craft
His earliest influences of neon art were marquees at The Ritz Theatre
and Tiffin Drive In, neon artist and Tiffin native Michael Flechtner
told an audience Wednesday evening at Tiffin University.
Flechtner, a 1970 graduate of Columbian High School who now lives in Van Nuys, Calif., is the designer of the U.S. Postal Service "Celebrate" stamp.
He discussed how he creates his neon work, the first of which he designed in 1980, although he did not bend the glass himself at the time.
Flechtner, a 1970 graduate of Columbian High School who now lives in Van Nuys, Calif., is the designer of the U.S. Postal Service "Celebrate" stamp.
He discussed how he creates his neon work, the first of which he designed in 1980, although he did not bend the glass himself at the time.
Neon artist who lit up Raymond's Soho clubs faces move from studio after legal battle
Historic: Chris Bracey’s work lit up Soho’s famous clubs and a host of films Picture: Jeremy Selwyn
Mr Bracey, 58, started his career creating fairground lights and then in the 1970s making signs for Soho sex and property baron Paul Raymond, lighting up adult venues including Raymond’s Revue Bar and Windmill Theatre. Nicknamed the “The King of Neon”, Mr Bracey employs 14 artists
An artist whose neon signs illuminated Paul Raymond’s Soho clubs faces eviction from his studios.
Chris Bracey’s neon artworks have appeared in many films, from Eyes
Wide Shut starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise to World War Z with Brad
Pitt. But after a two-year battle to stay at God’s Own Junkyard in
Walthamstow he faces eviction so a developer can build flats.Mr Bracey, 58, started his career creating fairground lights and then in the 1970s making signs for Soho sex and property baron Paul Raymond, lighting up adult venues including Raymond’s Revue Bar and Windmill Theatre. Nicknamed the “The King of Neon”, Mr Bracey employs 14 artists
Neon artist helps restore Roadhouse Relics mural
Former
welder and hot rod builder Todd Sanders now fabricates vintage neon
decor out of his gallery and workshop Austin Relics. True to his style,
Sanders shies away from the computer and relies on specialized
techniques to create hand-crafted metal and neon art.
The ‘prodigal son’ returns to Tiffin
Neon artist and Tiffin native Michael Flechtner is to be spotlighted in a
September show at the Diane Kidd Art Gallery located in the Hayes
Center for the Arts on the Tiffin University campus.
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