One of the skills we possess is the creation of neon tubing for art and signage. We saw these photos back in the early 80s displayed at an outdoor art market outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. The juried show was and still is titled “Summer Fair” attracting local, regional, as well as nationally known artists creating in various media. We purchased two photographs by Nels Johnson from Florida who travels to and from similar shows displaying and selling his photography. He has one awards for his work some of which depict beautiful natural settings, some provide a nostalgic look at architecture and signage such as those we purchased. One is a color photograph of a Dairy Queen in Charlotte, North Carolina shot in the 70s. The neon and other temporary ephemeral advertisements for ice cream and fast food specialties caught our eyes. the other is This is a color photograph of a Leon’s Frozen Custard stand shot in the 70s. The architecture of the building is set off by the neon tubing. Without the neon the building would lack presence and nostalgia. It is framed with a simple black frame wood and tastefully matted. Perfect for someone’s old fashioned ice cream stand or a shrine to drive up ice cream stands omnipresent in the 50s-70s throughout the U.S.
Tag: photography
Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment
This t-shirt represents a “catalytic incident” which over twenty years ago still bears import within the art world if not our culture. The first time we experienced an exhibit devoted solely to the work of the late artist, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was in 1978 in Washington, at the Harry Lund Gallery. The Lund Gallery specialized exclusively in photography and was located around the block from the J. Edgar Hoover Building which houses the F.B.I. That night’s show and the cast of characters, including Mapplethorpe himself, produced irony related to personal freedom and civil liberties but was not fully apparent until years later. Living in Cincinnati, in October 1990, we viewed the controversial exhibit titled Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment. The exhibit had begun its tour over a year prior amid controversy including cancellation of the exhibition at The Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington. The show was canceled however the shows images were projected on to the building in protest.
Seven of the artist’s images being shown at the 1990 show at the Contemporary Art Center became the subject of a trial in which, then Director of the facility, Dennis Barrie, was on trial for pandering what were being deemed obscene materials. The trial pitted liberal and conservative values in the city where we, among many, demonstrated on the steps of the county courthouse; where the six month long case proceedings were later dismissed. The Perfect Moment symbolized the beginning of a war of cultures still occurring years later particularly as it relates to public funding for the arts.
This XL t-shirt reads “FREEDOM FOR THE CREATIVE MIND” and documents the evening of June 30, 1989 where “protestors gather outside the Corcoran Gallery of Art to protest its cancellation of the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit. THE PROTEST CONTINUES… ”
The shirt printed by International Graphics Screen Printing was purchased at The Corcoran. The back of the tag reads: A percentage of the proceeds made through the sale of this shirt will go to benifit (spelling error) A.I.D.S research. The protest that occurred at The Corcoran Gallery of Art was organized by Bill Wooby and the Coalition of Washington Artists.” The shirt has never been worn, the tags are still on it. It has a hole approximately 1.25″ along the back side of the left arm, a sewing flaw during the manufacturing process (which could be repaired.) The shirt is clean, bright white, no yellowing, the screen print is still clear… as is the message.