Letters on Top of Buildings
I remember as a child, cruising the elevated freeways of Los Angeles provided a perspective like a bird flying. I enjoyed the solitude and focus of sitting in the back seat of my mother's car and looking out the window. Key points of interest for me, as a child, were the neon lit letters on top of buildings in Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. Those I recollected were, "Jesus Saves", "Hotel Roosevelt" and the "Fontenoy". They were and are beautiful typographic sculptures that rejoice an era of quality construction and pride of the institution it boasts. The buildings stand tall, their crowns embellished with steel lettering in the city center. They are treasures found, and as more often than not, we neglect to look up and find them, especially now, because many are on top of abandoned buildings where the signs are not lit anymore and the attention of the viewer remains at street level.
One of the many themes taken over the years in traveling across the US was a series of signs on top of buildings. This series, first put together as an exhibit for Domy Books in Austin and Houston Texas in 2009, was entitled "Letters on Top of Buildings.. a continuing project." There were seven images framed (14" x 19") in this show. Later, I edited and added images to make 12 total. They were shown at Civilian Art Projects in May and June 2012. The "Grab Bag" entitled, "Your Souvenir of Letters on Top of Buildings" was added to this exhibit, a letter pressed envelope with an original 8x10 gelatin silver print of one of nine selected images from this show. This Grab Bag is now number two in a series and in an edition of 59. (Grab Bag one was a true grab bag where 15 postcards were contained within a letter pressed brown bag and was sewn shut. The prospective buyer would not know the contents until he or she purchased the bag. Grab Bag three is part of a series of "X" (Inca) Silver Gelatin postcards and is called the "UN Grab Bag" because you can select what goes into the bag.) To find options to buy Grab Bags from Cynthia in the US, go to the online store. (If the online store is “empty” that means I am on a road trip and am not taking orders at the time. Sorry!)
The series was further exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in the March - June 2013 concurrently during the 'Pump Me Up' exhibit (also at the Corcoran) of which I had additional artwork exhibited (Banned in DC original layout boards and the 'Sheep' drawing for Minor Threat's 'Out of Step' EP). The twelve photographs, that are in an edition of 7, and make up the "Letters on Top of Buildings" exhibit along with two additional photographs shot in 2012 in Los Angeles exploring the city’s influence in this project were acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles for their permanent collection, December, 2014.
At the Corcoran Gallery of Art March - June 2013
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