Neon Magic

One of the most widely-anticipated and dazzling exhibitions has opened at The San Diego Museum of Art—Cafés and Cabarets—The Spectacular Art of Toulouse-Lautrec.

And spectacular it is! A brilliant review of the captivating portraits and posters of 19^th century Paris nightlife—the Belle Epoch era or “beautiful era” of peace, prosperity, and optimism. Lautrec’s art highlights the legendary Moulin Rouge and its’ extraordinary cast of characters.

Lautrec was the master at making a moment in history into visual spectacle. Designed for making quick impact in a crowded city, his figures soar larger than life and his lettering glows turning words into spectacle.

His lettering, particularly in the explosive Moulin Rouge—La Goulue, feels strikingly “neon” to me, a neon fanatic. The words Moulin Rouge in flaming scarlet, a color which evokes the famous windmill, radiates in blazing triplicate over the head of the most outrageous dancer of the day, Louise Weber.

In the spotlights, Weber, the shameless queen of Montmartre, rustles her petticoats in impressive maneuvers from the stage.

Toulouse-Lautrec invented a visual language of nightlife advertising that neon would later electrify, most famously in Times Square New York City and Las Vegas.

Just one of the reasons I am electrified by the art of Toulouse-Lautrec!

And neon.

Ode to Neon

You. You make me think of my salad days in honky-tonk bars full of fringe and cowboys in Lubbock, Texas, Dan Flavin’s installations of fluorescent flamboyance, and Times Square. And here you are in my office! Neon strips of light. Electric non-mellow yellow and show-stopping red, lighting up my work and my life. I’d say you’re cool, but your colors are vibrant and HOT! One time when I had a neon sign made to declare my love for my husband, the artist cautioned, “Don’t use blue or green. Women’s complexions look terrible when a cool color shade is cast. Ghostly.” For that Valentine’s Day gift, I selected a hot, hot, hot Barbie pink. Or maybe it was Wicked’s sugary, syrupy pink. Doesn’t matter now. It glowed for two decades in our winery until he died. Enraged, I threw the sign in the dumpster—the shattering sounds still resonate. Light years later, I tiptoed back into the neon world of my youth, mounting two long lines of light on the wall near the window. One red, the color of brake lights. The other, dazzling yellow like the brightest southern California sunny day.

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Cafés and Cabarets – The Spectacular Art of Toulouse-Lautrec now through Sept. 20 at The San Diego Museum of Art. Tours daily.