17 Sep Reel Art Film Series
Brand Associates REEL ART Film Series
In Partnership with the Museum of Neon Art
Presents
NEON
A film by Lawrence Johnston
The Brand Associates’ REEL ART Series in cooperation with The Museum of Neon Art presents “Neon” (2015) a film by internationally award-winning Director Lawrence Johnston. The film celebrates the invention, beauty, artistry and heritage of the neon sign. The screening will take place on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 6:00 pm at the Brand Library & Art Center (Recital Hall) at 1601 W. Mountain Street, Glendale, CA 91201. Admission is free and open to the public. Complimentary parking is available in Brand Park adjacent to the library and an accessibility entrance available on the east side of the building.
Attendees are welcome to arrive early at 5:30 p.m. to view the gallery exhibition “Blended Worlds: Experiments in Interplanetary Imagination”, a collaboration of Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and affiliate of NASA, Getty and Brand Library & Art Center. Says Arlene Vidor, Film Series Coordinator, “Brand Associates is thrilled to screen Neon in conjunction with the Blended Worlds” exhibition as they both celebrate the beautiful conflation of art and science”.
After the film, three prominent neon experts featured in the film will conduct a lively panel discussion and answer audience questions.
Post screening panelists
Dydia DeLyser is a cultural-historical geographer, writer and researcher based in Los Angeles. She earned her PhD from Syracuse University in 1998 and is currently Professor of Geography at California State University, Fullerton. Since 2010 DeLyser, working with her neon-sign-maker husband, Paul Greenstein, researched how neon signs transformed the American landscape and shaped American communities. That research has led to Neon: A Light History (published in 2021) and a number of articles. DeLyser has published widely in scholarly journals and her book “Ramona Memories: Tourism and the Shaping of Southern California” (2005) won the Globe Book Award for Public Understand of Geography. She serves on the Boards of the Bodie Foundation, The Heritage Flight Museum and the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale.
Eric Lynxwiler is an urban anthropologist and Los Angeles native. He has co-authored several popular books on the urban landscape, the history of Los Angeles, and neon signage including: “Spectacular Illumination: Los Angeles Neon 1925–1965”, “Signs of Life: Los Angeles the City of Neon”, “Knott’s Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott’s Berry Farm” and “Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles.” Neon enthusiasts flocked to Lynxwiler’s legendary Neon Cruises sponsored by the Museum of Neon Art. He is also well known as a Los Angeles Conservancy docent for the Broadway Theater district. Eric continues as a leading activist in the preservation of L.A.’s neon heritage and served for many years in leadership roles at the Museum of Neon Art.
Michael Flechtner is a neon artist, originally from the midwest. He earned a BFA and MFA in sculpture and painting and learned how to fabricate neon tubes after attending a slide lecture by neon artist Stephen Antonakos. Flechtner felt that if he was going to call himself a neon artist, that he needed to actually fabricate his own neon. Michael has been making neon art for over 40 years. His work is in many private collections and was chosen for the US Postal Service neon Celebrate Forever stamp, displayed in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Flechtner has taught workshops in Japan, England, Sweden and all over the United States including Pilchuck and Urban Glass. He also teaches privately and continues to make and exhibit his neon work, nationwide. Michael serves on the Board of Directors at the Museum of Neon Art.
About The Brand Associates REEL ART series. REEL ART features films with a strong voice and perspective on art, artists, and life, pairing screenings with stimulating discussions moderated by leading experts. The purpose of the series is to give people an opportunity to switch off their home screens and share a thought-provoking evening of film viewing with fellow community members. For information the public may contact 818-548-2051.
About the Museum of Neon Art. MONA encourages learning, curiosity and expression through the preservation, collection and interpretation of neon, electric and kinetic art. MONA is the only museum in the world devoted exclusively to art in electric media, exhibiting electric and kinetic fine art as well as outstanding examples of historic neon signs.