The world of neon art: anime, graffiti and cyberpunk LED images

Immerse yourself in the world of neon art and discover abstract works of art, sculptures and wall art that are brought to life neon and LED

Artists from all over the republic and beyond are followed by this fascinating design trend, which creates a unique atmosphere in every room.

Let yourself be inspired by the beauty and creativity of neon art and discover the endless possibilities of this exciting material.

What is neon art?

Neon art is an art form that focuses on the use of neon lights as a central element. These materials are used by artists to create abstract and sculptural works of art that immerse the space in bright colors.

Most neon works of art are made of glass pipes that are filled with gases and are luminated by creating an electrical voltage. However, there are also other materials such as LED lights that can be used for neon works of art.

Depending on the size of the sculpture or wall art, the price for these works can be between a few hundred to several thousand euros. Many artists specialize in neon art and offer their works online or in galleries.

If you are interested in this type of art, you should explore some of the known artists and find out which style suits you best.

First beginnings in the early 20th century

Since the early 20th century, Neon has attracted great attention to both artists and the audience. Steam tubes were produced in the 1910s and have been shaped and used for advertising purposes since the 1930s.

Over time, the medium has developed into a truly iconic status. No other art form has the unique ability to create a certain mood, convey messages and give ideas new dimensions.

It is therefore not surprising that some artists have devoted their entire career to this fascinating material.

This art form not only requires manual skills, but also a specific vision and artistic skills in order to further exaggerate the borders of this fragile medium.

Breakthrough in the wild 1960s

It would have been highly unlikely if artists had not experimented with Neon during the 1960s, when they turned away from traditional media. Neon had already reached an ambivalence between physical glass flow and immaterial light source and had penetrated everyday aesthetics-from simple goods advertising to luxurious Hollywood management.

Although Neon is closely linked to pop art and is part of popular culture, it also attracts artists who want to draw radiance from "poor materials" .

In an exhibition in the 1980s in the Ricke Gallery (Cologne), the focus was on three artists of a certain generation, who experimented early on with Neon: Bruce Nauman (born 1941 Fort Wayne/Indiana), Richard Serra (born 1939 San Francisco) and Keith Sonnier (born 1941 Manou/Louisiana).

Nauman, who celebrated his 80th birthday two years ago, discovered neon for the first time in 1965 and since 1966/67 all three artists worked with this color and light material for a few years before they removed from each other- but not too far.

Sonnier only returned to Neon, as a exhibition at Rolf Ricke, which took place in parallel in 1987/1988. At that time, Ricke did pioneering work in Europe for these three Americans, similar to Harald Szeeman integrated her works into his pioneering exhibition "When Attitudes Become Form" Kunstforum International )

A selection of artists who have a significant impact on neon art

One of the best ways to immerse yourself in the world of neon art is by looking at works of art by renowned artists from this genre.

There are many talented artists around the world that create breathtaking neon -colored works. From abstract wall artificial works to bright sculptures and neon installations, there are a variety of styles and materials- including LEDs, plexiglass or even wooden from which these works of art can be made.

Some artists specialize exclusively in neon works of art or neon sculptures and have developed incredible skills to produce these unique works. Others use it as part of their general design practice or combine it with other creative techniques such as graffiti.

If one speaks of neon art, the three pioneers already mentioned above have a number of artists who have emerged in this genre.

Dan Flavin - The Neon Art icon

Dan Flavin , who lived and worked from 1933 to 1996, began his artistic career with abstract expressionism drawings and paintings. But soon his works developed into sculptural objects that integrated everyday finds.

During his time as a post official in the Guggenheim Museum in the years around 1961, he made friends with the artists Sol Lewitt and Robert Ryman . These supported him in his plan to use electric light in his sculptures. This original concept was finally the basis for Flavin's groundbreaking "icons" series of sculptures.

For the first time he used fluorescent tubes, which marked the beginning of a lifelong career of experimentation with light, space and color. His work was largely shaped by these iconic minimalist lighting work, which consisted of industrially manufactured fluorescent tubes in different colors.

Through his work with neon light, he managed to establish the medium as a valid means within the visual art. In the course of his career, he realized increasingly ambitious installations on site.

With his innovative use of fluorescence light, Dan Flavin is now considered the father of neon art as we know it; An inspiration for influential artists such as Robert Irwin and James Turrell.

Joseph Kosuth

Joseph Kosuth (born 1945), one of the pioneers of conceptualism, researched the top of this new artistic movement with the help of neon art. With intellectual works such as "four colors, four words", he clearly and literally expressed what the audience saw.

In this way, Kosuth presented two simultaneous but different realities of color and language, although none of them were more real than the other. This work was created in 1966 during his studies at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and examined the integration of the literal process and the result.

It contributed to the development of the concept art movement and paved the way for their explorations regarding art, color and language by emphasizing art as an idea instead of object without emotional elements. The ingenious visual summaries of complex topics of semiotics and semantics should be counted among the most influential works of this time.

Chryssa

Chryssa (1933–2014) was a pioneer in transferring Neon from an advertising material to art. She used neon art as an interface between lighting, text and color. During her childhood in the middle of the Nazi occupation of Greece, Chryssa was strongly influenced by the fragmentary writing style of the underground resistance.

Her pioneering work "Times Square Sky" showed her fascination for literary symbols and consisted of a mixture of italics, scribbling texts in bright blue neon light. She also continued this topic at her building "The Gates To Times Square" - a massive square structure made of steel and neon with a large letter "A" that invited visitors to explore.

Her ampersand series embodied her wish to overlap and fragment texts-a symbol for her entire work and legacy.

Tracey Emin-The Neon-Trash artist

Tracey Emin , a British artist, uses a variety of creative forms of expression such as painting, installations and sculpture as well as the use of neon light.

As part of the Young British Artists (YBA) , a group of artists from the 1980s, she masters the art of provocation and shock as skilfully as her colleagues. In her works mirrors t often a cynical disillusionism - a representation of our postmodern world, in which established norms disintegrate.

With the help of her neon art, Emin deliberately plays with stereotypical texts and skillfully conversely reverses the light according to the appearance of handwritten spontaneity. The messages of these works are both with love and obscene words and sometimes even ironic-cosen.

Gyula Košice - inventor of neon art

Gyula Košice was the first artist in 1946 to use fluorescent neon tubes in his works. The Argentine artist, born in 1924, is a pioneer of so -called light art: an expression that uses light as the main material.

It also contributed significantly to the development of optical art and kinetic art, i.e. two currents based on the movement of the gaze and the object considered.

Leila Pazooki - political neon

Leila Pazooki is an Iranian artist whose creative works take up and question role of women in the Arab world and in Islam Your works of art are not provocative, but even manage to convey a certain happiness.

Nevertheless, they also reflect the injustices of these societies, but always keep a positive character. She uses various media such as paintings, sculptures, photos or installations as well as neon lights for short texts or word combinations to support your statement.

Mario Merz

Mario Merz (1925–2003) was an artist who was mainly known for his connection to the important art group and movement Arte Povera and for his distinctive Iglu installations. His igloos were made from a metal frame and decorated with different materials such as sound, wax, glass, sack linen, mud and neon light rates.

This series started in 1968 and extended for many years. Merz found great fascination in the symbolism of iglus as a nomadic refuge and as a metaphorical space of the artist. He integrated neon art on the surfaces of his structures and used them to formulate keywords or political slogans.

By including these texts in his work, he literally gave them energy - by permanently immersing them in neon light. He became the first Italian artist to experiment this medium.

He tried to link these sentences with considerations about the human need for interaction and our relationship with nature.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster

The British artist couple Timothy "Tim" Noble (born 1966) and Susan "Sue" Webster (born 1967) are best defined by their characteristic works "Light Works" and "Shadow Works" .

The "Shadow Works" are sculptural compilations of scrap and found objects that are illuminated in order to create a deliberately created shadow in a desired form. In contrast, their “Light Works” consist of computer -controlled neon works of art that flash in chaotic, overwhelming and contradictory way.

Her work The Sweet Smell of Excess symbols of pop culture with an ironic-point awareness ; It represents the well -known iconography of shop signage and carnival culture in British coastal cities.

By merging inferior art media and this form into a work of art, they themselves in question the actual value of artistic work themselves-they challenge the audience to look at this sculptural "anti-art" and to reflect on the nature of resistance.

Glenn Ligon-cracks in the US society

Glenn Ligon (1960-) researched the history, culture and society of America from the perspective of concept art in his ambitious work complex. It is primarily known for his text -based works that have been created since the late 1980s.

One of his most famous works of art is Double America from 2006. It is a neon artwork consisting of an upright and a converted "America" .

The work stimulates thinking about the state of the country and the meaning of everyone. In many versions of this work, the neon tubes are painted black. As a result, the light only seems to penetrate through the abrasions and cracks in the dark color - this symbolizes significantly breaks within American society.

Although party politics has always been part of the American reality, this work now gains even more weight and meaning than in its publication over a decade ago. The trenches and inequalities within political, economic and social systems of the country have grown and apparently more obvious than ever before.

James Turrell - sculptor of the light

James Turrell , an American artist, uses light and space as the main elements of his works of art. Similar to other artists use brushes and colors, it uses parchment paper, neon lights, halogen lamps and even the sun.

The use of neon in his works is particularly important. Neon light is sharp and fluorescent - a clear contrast to the diffuse and soft light around it.

It creates rooms with strong contrast. When you look at one of his works of art, the viewer overshades a strange sensation: you feel literally permeated with the light - whereby neon often plays an important role.

Martial Raysse-the neon pop artist

Martial Raysse , a French artist with connections to the American pop art movement and French new realism, is primarily known as a painter. His works generally treat the icons of our society such as female beauty, art history and hobbies .

It gives them a striking and lively note. In order to express his creative visions, Raysse uses a wide variety of materials such as plastics, plexiglas, Mirrors and photos. However, the neon lights in some of its most famous works are particularly striking.

In a portrait you even become a small advertising logo in the middle of the painting - an impressive appearance in an almost provocative way.

Robert Montgomery-The Neon-Poet

Robert Montgomery , an artist from Great Britain, has developed a unique way of writing - he wrote short poems with the help of light. Sometimes he even uses fire to create "fire poems"

But above all, he is known as a neon artist. With the help of this flexible and adaptable material, he presents its messages in public locations. The texts are slightly melancholy, sometimes also ecologically shaped and always a bit philosophical.

It often surprises the viewer to discover these works on the edge of a beach or in the middle of a city. In darkness, they wake up to life and create a new space for thinking and reflection through the art of neon light.

Anime as part of neon art

Anime is simply a Japanese animation. The origin of Japanese cartoon films goes back to the early 20th century when the very first cartoon films came up. Anime usually works with manga (Japanese comics) and brings the stories to life with animated television series.

The attitude of the (western) public towards anime has gradually changed when Japanese anime and East Asian anime have generally influenced the great cinemas in the world in recent years.

No matter how much professionals and art lovers the mixing of anime art and contemporary western art loathe or admire, anime art has left its mark in the western contemporary art world.

Neon art has also become more and more popular in recent years and has developed into an art form that has long since not only limited to neon tubes. In fact, this type of works of art can be made from various materials, all of which have a common feature: luminosity .

Neon works of art can be abstract or realistic and offer a variety of options for artists to bring their ideas to life.

Anime as part of neon art has recently become more important. Artists use the techniques of anime design to create sculptures and wall art that capture and reflect on the neon-colored light.

Regardless of whether you are a fan of anime or abstract art, there are certainly neon works of art and artists who deserve your attention. Overall, neon art offers a fascinating way to experiment with light and space and create unique works.

Graffiti and the symbolism of neon

Graffiti , urban art and neon art have a natural connection. The abstract art revolves around play with colors and shapes that are brought to life in an urban area.

Neon light adds an additional dimension to the whole by transforming the work of art into a bright design.

In particular, lettering, tags and messages are excessive points between street art works and neon art.

But neon lettering is no longer just found as a fluorescent sign in dodgy quarter during the deep night. Neon art has long since found its way into the business area as advertising material and in private living rooms as a decorative element- also personalized .

Here we find a number of inspiring LED lettering that decorate the walls of private apartments and small business locations:

A lot has changed in the past decades. Not only stylistically, but also in terms of technology. Today, artists and wall-art creators use progressive LED technology to achieve improved lighting results with the illuminated letters and at the same time consume a fraction of the amount of electricity. LED lights have started their triumphal march among artists, art fans and decorative enthusiasts.

Neon is also often associated with the dark and commercial undertones of urban landscapes.

If you venture from the street onto the canvas, the two graffiti artists Risk and Mr. Brainwash also seem to integrate the fluorescent tubes into their paintings.

Kelly "Risk" Graval is rightly referred to as the "godfather of graffiti" . Risk has had a significant influence on the street art scene since the 1980s. He was a pioneer of the so -called "Hitting Up the Heavens" , in which he attached graffiti to extreme heights by climbing motorway signs and overpasses.

By breaking up the boundaries between street art and visual art as well as the expansion of graffiti culture to music and trade, Graval has gained international fame.

The world-famous graffiti artist Kelly Graval from the west coast has set up the record for the largest wall painting of Canada . Between the 13th and 26th August 2019, Risk and his small team of 4, together with a team of 24, used three elevators, a crane and 860 gallon color to transform the entire 74,000 square meter building of the Old St. Joseph's Hospital into a breathtaking work of art.

Monster Energy and the Legendary Risk with his team have left the people in Sudbury, Canada, "Old St Jooos" , a monumental indoor.

Thierry Guetta , better known as his pseudonym Mr. Brainwash, gained awareness in the street art scene through his participation in Banksy's documentation "Exit through the Gift Shop" .

In his work, Mr. Brainwash pop pictures and cultural iconography to create graffiti Due to his hype-based reputation and a preference for drama, he finds the perfect form of expression for his constantly growing ambitions in the NEON material.

In the work "Banksy Thrower (Neon)", Mr. Brainwash adds light elements to an existing design, which contains both a template from Banksy itself and the motif "art for dummies" - an unexpected weapon of social activism.

The addition of neon tubes to the word "art" emphasizes its importance within the entire street artist culture and the new generation of activists.

Cyberpunk LED images: influences from the sci-fi genre

Cyberpunk is often referred to as the dark film Noir among the science fiction genres. In contrast to the radiant and flawless worlds of many other science fiction genres, the world of cyber punk is crossed by darkness and shaped by violence and pessimism.

Cyberpunk-Kunst picks up this dark aesthetics and connects it with futuristic elements , technology and a critical attitude towards society.

Neon light plays a central role in capturing the atmosphere of this dystopian world . In the works of cyberpunk artists, scenarios are often presented in which people with machines merge or create virtual realities.

The use of neon light increases the feeling of futurism and at the same time creates a contrast to the darkness of the environment. This type of works of art is not only visually impressive, but also stimulates thinking. It asks questions about the influence of technology on our society and ethical dilemma in the age of progress.

A well -known artist of this genre is Syd Mead - a visionary designer for films such as “Blade Runner” and “Tron” . His work is characterized by their detailed representation of futuristic cities, which are fully illuminated by the neon -colored light.

These pictures have had a strong influence on other artists and still shape the image of what we can imagine under a cyber -punken future. Especially in the video game Cyberpunk 2077 , which was launched in November 2020, the cyberpunk atmosphere can be "inhaled" as a virtual player for immersive way during a night walk.

No wonder that Cyberpunk LED images have now become an important part of neon art.

Cultural importance of neon art in today's world

Neon art has become an important part of the art scene in today's world. The cultural importance of neon art cannot be overlooked because it offers a unique opportunity to bring light and color to a room.

Artists around the world use different materials such as glass, gas and electrodes to create breathtaking neon works of art and sculptures. These abstract works are not only beautiful to look at, but also contribute to cultural diversity.

Advantages of using LEDs in works of art with neon -colored elements

The use of LED lighting in neon art represents exciting innovation. Traditionally, neon tubes were used to create the lively colors and shapes in works of art, but LED lights offer many advantages over conventional materials.

On the one hand, they are more durable and energy -efficient than neon tubes. In addition, LED lights are much easier to integrate into abstract designs, which gives artists more creative freedom in the design of their works.

In addition, the flexible material of the LED lights artists, sculptures and wall art to create with unique lighting effects.

The use of LED lighting also has an impact on the costs: While traditional neon works of art are often expensive (with prices of several thousand CHF or EUR), works with LED lighting are often cheaper to produce and therefore more accessible to art collectors.