Las Vegas is synonymous with light. It glows and glistens and glitters.
So when the Nevada State Museum invited artists to submit art that glows for an upcoming exhibit, responses poured in. Many were from artists influenced by Vegas glitz.
"They were told to glow, shine or sparkle," said Barbara Slivac, the museums curator of education. "It just had to be Las Vegas-ey."
And it is. A tunnel of pinwheels, once destined for the Burning Man festival, leads visitors through the small hallway-turned-gallery at the Nevada State Museum on Twin Lakes Drive.
"The King of Bling" is an acrylic-on-canvas tribute to Liberace, whose face is outshone by the white lights of his twinkling suitcoat.
"Vagrant Vic," a homeless variation of the notorious Vegas Vic, winks from the other end of the makeshift gallery. A landscape of petroglyphs cut into rusted iron is illuminated by a single bulb.
The 21 mixed-media works are on display through Jan. 18 in conjunction with the museums "Neon Unplugged: Signs from the Boneyard," an exhibit of retired neon signs from Las Vegas yesteryear.
Using tiny lights, neon, polarized light, black light and fluorescent paint, the art mostly portrays varying perceptions of Las Vegas and how the citys lights inspired the artists.
Local artist Angee Jackson created "Elvis Live!," a vinyl-cut portrait of Elvis (taken from a 1970s tour). The portrait is framed in light bulbs.
"Since an early age I've been obsessed with lights and neon signs," Jackson said. "They're just beautiful. When I was a small baby, my dad worked at the Stardust. That was one of the first signs I remember.
"Strapped in the car seat, I didn't know what they (the lights) were, but they were so amazing."
Using Elvis as subject matter was a little different for Jackson, a graphic artist who works for an events company. But, she said, "I thought the image was perfect for this. He's pretty important. At one point in Las Vegas he was extremely popular."
Evolving light
Brian "Paco" Alvarez, who also grew up in Las Vegas, created a painting with Michael Kruis that pays homage to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current.
Kruis' black-and-white portrait of Tesla is backed by Alvarez's explosive rendition of the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. The sign is outlined with blue electro-luminescent wire and incorporates lightning bolts and Tesla coils.
"Vegas today would not be much without Nikola Tesla," Alvarez said. "He had such an enormous impact on lights and electricity.
"Las Vegas is the brightest spot on the planet. Nikola Tesla would be proud."
Alvarez is a museum curator, and also former collections manager at the Liberace Museum. He said he's more than delighted to participate in the "Art that Glows" exhibit.
"I like things that light up," Alvarez said. "I'm from Las Vegas. Anything that glows, that lights up, excites me. There's a lot of opportunity to work in that medium.
"Neon is our culture. We didn't invent it, but we've used it better than anyone else."
In addition to the Tesla piece, Kruis, an electrical engineer who moved to Las Vegas in 1995, painted "The King of Bling."
"I painted it originally trying to capture the light," Kruis said. "In the picture I painted it from, his costume is so bright and shiny you almost can't see him. He almost looks like he's exploding because he's lit up so much. I tried to capture that."
But Kruis said the painting wasn't over-the-top enough to capture the aura of Liberace; so for the exhibit, he added white lights to Liberace's outfit.
Regarding Liberace, Kruis said, "He really is definitely a Vegas icon, what is truly pure and beautiful of Las Vegas that you can't get anywhere else."
Always sunny
Focusing solely on buildings, Austine Wood Comarow submitted artwork that presents snippets of Las Vegas awash in the sunlight.
Comarow, known for her nature-inspired works made of cellophane and colored by polarized light, presents five pieces any local could recognize: stark sections of stucco homes, rooftops, businesses and casinos with post-9-11 flags jutting up into the clear sky.
She said she chose the buildings and hard-edged images to explore a style that differs from her traditionally round, organic pieces.
"I was trying to be very minimal and succinct, but still capture the spirit of Las Vegas," Wood said. "It just seems to reflect this crisp light that exists in Las Vegas."
Regardless of her subject matter, Comarow says, "All of my work is influenced by Las Vegas. I've been living here on-and-off since 1976."
Local mechanics Dave Gallion and Ken Sheehy found their inspiration downtown. The two went "Dumpster diving" after learning of the "Art that Glows" exhibit and spent two weeks building "Vagrant Vic" from mostly recycled materials.
They cut his shape out of plastic glass, painted on his famous grimace, jeans and checkered shirt, then placed Christmas lights itside the sculpture so it illuminates.
"I'm empathetic with the homeless situation," Sheehy said. "There are a lot of people who need help. We were actually going to make him real homeless. But we didn't want to push the envelope."
Gallion makes metal sculpture out of old car parts and Sheehy assists him. The duo said that this was their first piece to incorporate electricity.
"Downtown's kind of rough on the homeless people so we wanted to spoof on that," Gallion said. "But it was kind of a fine line."
"Vagrant Vic" will be auctioned. Proceeds will go to Shade Tree and Rescue Mission. Most of the "Art that Glows" artwork is for sale. Prices range from $125 to $3,500. The pieces had to be submitted by Oct. 16.
While hanging the electrifying displays, Tom Dyer, exhibits manager at the museum, said he was pleased with the outcome.
"I didn't know what to expect," Dyer said, looking around.
"I was overwhelmed by the variety, quality and ingeniousness in the different ways the subject was approached."
With a smile, he added, "It's de-light-ful."
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