Oct/Nov – various artists curated by Neolite

About This Project

SPONSORED BY

As part of the inaugural Neon Playground by Chinatown event we’re joining the Chinatown glow-up festivities this October with our own neon party and exhibition presented by Neolite – Australia’s leading creative neon sign business – and sponsored by Soul of Chinatown. Best enjoyed with a neon cocktail – see the special menu HERE.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION – The Hum and the Buzz

The Hum and the Buzz is an exhibition presented by Neolite Studios, showcasing art that celebrates the electrifying medium of neon and the artist behind the glow. Platforming an incredible line-up of artists, this exhibition will feature works incorporating glass and light to explore neon’s versatility as an artform and illuminate its long and colourful history in our towns and cities.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

neogeo aka George Aitken started his career in 1983 airbrushing signage at signage design and installation company, Claude Neon. Three years later he found himself in the glass room of the leading signage design company. As his career progressed George became familiar with the intricacies of reflective light and glass work, exploring existing techniques and experimenting with new ways. His passion in this creative field saw him take creative inspiration from the likes of Mid-Century modern architect Mies Van der Rohe, the works in neon of 60s artist Stephen Antonakos and contemporary artist James Turrell, renowned for his work within the light and space movement.

IG: @writelightneon
Web: writelightneon.com.au

Jack Flash is a Melbourne born neon artist. He began his neon journey in 2017, being taught by master glass bender Steven Cole at his workshop. Jack now mostly works out of his home studio in Huntingdale in Melbourne’s south east, creating artworks in between completing neon or electrical work for people.

IG: @jackflashneon

Pamela Leung is a Hong Kong Sydney-based artist, with a Master of Fine Art from the National Art School, 2016. With her installation, video, sound, sculpture and painting, Pamela explores the routines of everyday life, relationships, connections, displacement and the diaspora. She shares her personal migratory experience with the audience, allowing them to reflect on ideas of identity and displacement. The colour red takes on a significant symbolic status in her work, representing the differing perspectives of Western and Eastern cultures; it is also the colour that runs through all people, no matter the colour of their skin and is used as a unifying force.

IG: @instapamit
Web: pamelaleung.net

Luke Purser is a neon artist based in Austinmer, NSW. His work is inspired by playful design and the idea that art should be multi-use, accessible and fun. Working as a graphic designer for most of his career, he discovered neon in early 2020 while living in Los Angeles. After participating in neon workshops, he became hooked on the intersection of the glass artform and how it could complement his graphic design expertise. He has continued his learning since returning to Australia under Steven Cole, and moved to the South Coast of NSW to set up a small neon shop and teaching studio. 

IG: @heyneon.studio
Web: www.heyneon.com.au

James Jirat Patradoon’s work is informed by a wealth of cultural references. From 80s aesthetics and 90s fashion, to comic books and tattoo design, he renders his ideas in flashes of neon and monochrome. Creating captivating animated gifs, murals and paintings, Patradoon’s arcane obsession with the occult seeps through every pore of his pieces. Fusing Japanese anime with pop-horror and searing luminouscolours – he conjures visions of aneon gothic paradise. A standalonestyle has led to work with highprofile international clientele,including collaborations with thelikes of Coca Cola, Facebook, HBO,and Microsoft.

IG: @jamesjirat
Web: jirat.jp

Min Sung is a Korean-Australian Artist who has been working in neon for 35 years. Australia’s only female glass bender for the majority of her career, Sung got her start in neon at Neolite Neon after arriving in Sydney from South Korea. Prior to her career in glass, Sung studied the artisan craft of wood-burning illustration. Sung is deeply passionate about drawing and spends her free time creating digital illustrations.

[QUARTZVII] is a trans-media experimental creative based in south-west Sydney unfolding through the methods and vessels of traditional illustration, photography, graphic design, animation and videogames, aiming to visually subvert and explore the ideologies of hyper-sensationalised imagery, artificial identity, surrealist erotica and digital psychedelia/alternative reality.

IG: @quartzvii
Web: quartzvii.bigcartel.com/

Rosie Gatliff is a multi-media artist who’s studied in glass and neon. Within her artistic career Rosie has worked across the spectrum of the arts including film, painting, glass blowing and neon, sound design and welding. These experiences are a homage to the way that she sees the world, as it is: complex, beautiful and a little bit funny. 

IG: @rosiefrances_gatliff

Emma-Kate Hart is a traditional neon artist, hailing from the inner-western suburbs of Sydney. Concurrently with her artistic practice, Emma-Kate works as a commercial neon sign maker, as well as teaching neon glass bending both locally and internationally. Having a direct relationship with the medium is an essential part of her artmaking, focusing on the relationship between hand and material. Emma-Kate utilises the medium of neon to make poetic links between the lights that illuminate our cities and the culture that breeds beneath it; drawn to a synthesis of the dream-like aesthetic of capitalism and its cultural repercussions, on individuals and our societies at large. 

IG: @neon.hart
Web: neon-hart.com

Steven Cole has been honing the craft of neon glass bending for almost 40 years. A master craftsman, Steven uses his skillsets to express his creative self. As an artist Steven creates symbolic, heartfelt works; his inspiration is drawn from his emotions and experience living with a form of anxiety. Steven also uses the medium of neon as an exploratory device, pushing the medium through experimentation in the possibilities of glass and plasma. He is a vital part of the Australian neon community, generously sharing his hard-earned knowledge and supporting a new generation of artists in neon.

IG: @stevencole_art
Web: stevencole.com.au

ABOUT NEOLITE

Neolite is Australia’s largest and oldest existing neon light company, having been trusted to service the country’s neon needs since 1948. Since Neolite’s beginnings they’ve helped transform iconic Australian buildings into landmarks and have helped bring to life amazing art pieces for some of Australia’s most renowned artists.

In 2022 Neolite launched its own creative mission to support neon artists and promote public awareness of this specialised medium. Along with the launch of neon workshops and artist residencies, Neolite has opened its own dedicated Neon Gallery space in Sydney’s St Peters.

Neolite at Banchō, as part of Neon Playground by Chinatown, runs from 15 October to 20 November, Tuesday to Saturdays from 4pm. All artworks are available for sale – please send enquiries to Tina at curated@banchobar.com.au

As part of the Neon Playground by Chinatown event, Banchō will be featuring special neon cocktails for the five weeks of the festival of art, lights, music, community and food – stay tuned at banchobar.com.au/events