Douglas Gordon Is Displaying His First Exhibition Solely Dedicated to Neon Signage
On view at Gagosian London until January 14.
Douglas Gordon is a Scottish multimedia artist best-known for his meditations on time, collective memory and ethical questions that probe proverbial ‘rights and wrongs’. Working across photo, video and text-based installations, Gordon has been the recipient of numerous awards over the past 25 years, including winning the Turner Prize in 1996.
His latest solo exhibition is solely dedicated to neon signage. Having first explored the medium through a 1998 installation outside a Glaswegian pub, Gordon has always been drawn to the utility of neon signage and its place in the history of art — from the work of Joseph Kosuth to Dan Flavin.
Housed at Gagosian‘s Davies Street location in London, Neon Ark presents a series of gnomic text signs that Gordon sources from various corners of pop culture, such as the work mighty REAL (2022), which borrows from Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).”
“I’m interested in the fine line between my intentions and the perceptions of others; that moment when someone encounters something and realizes that there is more to it than meets the eye,” Gordon said in a statement.
To complement the exhibition, Gagosian previously held an on-site workshop highlighting the elemental process in which a flame is used to bend fine glass — a technique known as “bombarding”. Additionally, Gordon worked with the Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Art (CIRCA) to display artwork on the large screen in Piccadilly Circus to celebrate Soho’s neon heritage.
Neon Ark will be on view at Gagosian London until January 14, 2023, while the Piccadilly installation is on view until December 31.
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Gagosian
17–19 Davies Street
London w1k 3de
