By Jessica Moss
Daily Bruin Contributor
Cars, cats and coffee are not usually things that glow in the
dark.
In “Energy Car: Neon Works by Frank Romero,” showing
through May 27 at the Museum of Neon Art, however, Romero stages 12
electrifying works ranging in size and style.
Walking into the gallery space viewers are immediately struck by
the incessant, yet not unpleasant, collective buzzing rhythms of
the neon and the peculiar odor of the electrical equipment and neon
ions, giving viewers the sense that they are in a refrigerator.
Of the 12 pieces in the exhibit, all but two are two-dimensional
and hang at eye-level on the gallery walls like neon paintings. The
remaining two works, the tiny and sensual “The Artist’s
Model” and the blue cutout-like “Chicago
Lowrider,” are unusual in that they are three-dimensional,
with the latter parked diagonally across one area of the exhibition
space.
“The Artist’s Model” is striking for its small
size and its unique assembly of identical voluptuous side views of
a single female form. Although the piece is three-dimensional, the
work is composed of two profiled views with an inch of space in
between. Each side of the woman’s body is outlined in dynamic
beaded white neon that gives the appearance of tiny ball bearings
flowing through the slim tubing.
The exhibit’s eponymous “Car Energy,” by
contrast, is a large 6 by 3 1/2 foot work in which
“car” and “energy” are the obvious
subjects.
The straight-edged red, wood frame is cut on the inside into the
shape of a car. The outline of the car contains brightly colored
neon shapes of a snake, rocket ship, gun, light bulb and the
profiles of a man and woman kissing. Sections of some of the
objects flash, crackle or blink in opposition to the solid neon
outlines and accents of the figures.
Museum visitors will be attracted to the artist’s use of
zany cartoon-styled figures and vibrant colors, which make the
piece eye catching and engaging. This style may also resonate with
viewers because it uses images similar to those that can be found
in popular media.
By far the most elaborate piece in the exhibit is Romero’s
1997 “Back Seat Dodge.” Set within a wide green frame
decorated with skulls, swirls and turquoise and burgundy crenelated
edges are two figures. A skeleton and another incarnation of
Romero’s blonde-haired, red-lipped babe embrace in a
flagrantly sexual pose.
The profiled and intricately detailed skeleton flashes in white
as he reaches out for his female companion, who is outlined in
flashing pink neon and is provocatively positioned to receive his
embrace. The flashpoints of the woman’s sexuality ““ her
breasts, nipples, lips, etc. ““ are all accented in red. The
two figures continually flash on and off in a never-ending cyclic
succession.
Although the pairing of the skeleton and the woman in the back
seat of a low rider is sexual, it also hints at the fast-paced and
potentially deadly lifestyle that can be found in the car culture
of Southern California.
Not every piece in the exhibit deals with automobiles.
“Scamp and Mouse,” for instance, depicts a triumphant
yellow-beaded neon cat with a captured mouse in his mouth. For the
most part, however, “Energy Car” presents several
additional works repeating the car theme and offering
interpretations of other common objects as in “Mocha
Java,” “Packard Burger” and
“Pistola.”
According to an interview with Romero printed in the
Museum’s winter newsletter, the various icons within the car
pieces and throughout the exhibit, such as a hamburgers, coffee,
cats and snakes, refer to things that the artist was familiar with
when he was growing up in multicultural East L.A. or were just
things he liked. Romero summarily described his early
attraction for and continued love of neon signage and the influence
it has had on his work as “a romantic idea.”
MUSEUM: “Energy Car: Neon Works by Frank
Romero” shows through May 27 at The Museum of Neon Art, 501
West Olympic Blvd. For information call (213) 489-991 or go to
www.neonmona.org.