Exhibition 'Toon Michiels - American Neon Signs By Day & Night' in Nederlands Fotomuseum
In the mid-1970’s artist Toon Michiels visited the USA a number of times, travelling in a rental car to cities such as Reno an Las Vegas. He fell under the spell of the neon signs that hotels and restaurants had installed along the highways to lure drivers into making short or longer stop. To Europe eyes, they symbolized a typical American idea about freedom, the automobile culture and the urge to be ‘on the road’in the wide open spaces of the American West. Their big letters and playful designs appealed to Michiels, partly due to this professional background as a graphic designer. The neon signs created a playful, freewheeling impression and contained many of the motifs from the popular American idea of the West – palm trees, cactuses and cowboys. At night these neon signs were even more spectacular, forming great beacons of light against a darkened sky. Michiels decided to photograph them systematically, once by day and again by night, head-on and from the same position. The result is a series of handsome diptychs.
