Neon and nature mix

RYAN NADEL

Vancouver is a city blessed with natural beauty. This blessing, however, has perhaps dulled us to some of the manufactured beauty that surrounds us.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to appreciate the subtleties of our own creations. In the case of Andrew Firestone, a Toronto-born photographer and graphic designer, it was Vancouver's signs that he noticed upon his arrival in the city two and half years ago. More specifically, it was our neon signs. "I started taking pictures of the signs [and] then doing a lot of research about them," Firestone said. "Coming from Toronto, I appreciated it in a different way. Vancouverites like taking pictures of trees, I've always loved photographing architecture."

These photos have evolved into a collection of 12 pieces that are being shown at the Eastwood Onley Gallery from May 8-15. The work captures Vancouver's remaining neon signs in an abstract, manipulated form that alludes to the esthetic of the pop painters and Andy Warhol. These signs still light up the streets in Vancouver hot spots: Kitsilano, Granville and the Downtown Eastside. But their historical context is an important element of the work for Firestone. "Back in the '50s, they were beautiful, when Granville Street was known as the 'Great White Way.'... There is nothing beautiful in our buildings now because they want people to look at the natural beauty," he said. Firestone sees his work as bringing attention to the things we collectively miss.

Vancouver had the highest per capita ratio of neon signs in the world in the 1950s, one neon sign to every 18 people. Historians claim that, other than Shanghai, no other city in the world had as many neon signs as Vancouver in the 1950s. Tourists flocked here to see them. "There is natural beauty in the old architecture of Vancouver," said Firestone. "The notion that these signs are eyesores only developed in the '60s, when the bylaws changed and they were labelled as such."

Firestone referred to the civic movement that worked to dismantle the "neon jungle." Only recently has a renewed appreciation for these signs entered the civic consciousness, and the most confused expression of this appreciation is the Frankstein-like creation of the original BOMAC sign smothered by the new Toys R Us sign on Broadway.

The dichotomy of neon and nature is not lost on Firestone. "I think these signs are as beautiful as the mountains and ocean in a certain way," he said. This relationship finds compelling expression in his work. One of the profiled pieces is a photograph of the Vogue Theatre sign. In this piece, Firestone layered the image with a photograph of tree bark, "I utilize natural beauty in the manipulation of the images," he said. In some of the other works, he uses snowflakes, cacti and trees as background images. Sometimes non-organic items find their way into the compositions. The piece depicting the famous Ovaltine Café sign incorporates an antique lampshade. "The images really are a combination of everything, of the natural and the manufactured," he said.

Firestone described his method as a "21st century way to paint." The original photographs are taken with a digital camera then imported to a photo-editing program, where Firestone manipulates the colors and layers other digital images. He describes his work as reactive, based upon artistic intuition rather than a concrete preconceived vision. "It's more improv, analyzing what works and what doesn't work visually. If I don't like the way it's flowing, then I'll start from scratch," he said.

The works have a unique look to them. They come across as neither photographs nor paintings. "I like to call it neo-photo realism, unlike other digital art, where the computer does the majority of the work, with these I sit and look at the images and pull out different elements," he said.

Firestone, whose background is in graphic design and works as a commercial graphic artist, looks at Warhol's work for inspiration and a sense of continued legacy. "I take signs and create art out of commercialism. I think Warhol would have used the same tools if he were around today," he said. Marketability is a major influence on Firestone's work. "My work is based in reality, these signs are part of Vancouver. The goal is to make it more marketable so that people like it and people want to buy it. Art and marketability are connected."

Ryan Nadel is a master's student in digital media.

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