When Dame Barbara Windsor flicks the switch on the Blackpool illuminations this evening, the town’s Grundy Art Gallery will also see the light as it opens a major show of neon works, both historic and contemporary. These range from classic pieces by French neon-pioneers such as Bertrand Lavier and Francois Morellet, to a wall of text pieces by legendary conceptualist Joseph Kosuth and more recent works by the likes of Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk and Eddie Peake.
Mr Kosuth was in attendance at the Grundy opening last night, which marked the great man’s first visit to Blackpool. And everyone agreed that the town’s profusion of enticing signage made it the natural home for his investigations into language as material—most notably his iconic work that simply spells the word “neon”, which was made when he was just a precocious 20-year-old.
But it wasn't all conceptual chin stroking, with the wide range of works on show also containing a number of oblique references to Blackpool’s time-honoured status as a centre for saucy seaside fun. These include Ron Haselden’s perky pink neon ladder, which in the next couple of days will be erected next to the towns famous drag cabaret bar Funny Girls; and Prem Sahib’s gently (or heavily) “breathing” neon, and his slyly subversive Bump. The latter is a silhouette of a pair of underpants installed above the gallery’s back entrance where, viewed from the street, it shines out from above the wheelie bins, looking very much like the sign for an illicit nightclub. Given Blackpool’s reputation for hedonism, the Grundy may have to prepare itself for some very late night clientele…