Jeffry Chiplis
Celebrate the Noble Gases: Argon and Neon
About the Exhibit
Recycled neon and argon letters, 12k solid state transformer, plexiglass
Made of repurposed neon and argon sign letters, a new ‘ART’ feature is aglow downtown on Main Street. Its presence is preceded by symbolic signs of neighboring businesses such as ‘popcorn’ for The Peanut Shoppe and a flashing ‘BAR’ sign for Baxter's Bar. Akron Soul Train, an artist residency program that works to connect and empower the community and artists, opened an art gallery along this active city-core strip in 2019. The gallery presents month-long shows throughout the year and welcomes additional creative community engagement. The illuminated ART sign exhibited in the gallery window acts as visual icing, welcoming the public to interact with the new-to-the-scene space. Add the best part is, the letter ‘A’ comes with a tremendous amount of great artistic karma as does the letter ‘T’. The Argon filled ‘A’ used to illuminate the way into the former SPACES headquarters on Superior Viaduct in Cleveland, Ohio. SPACES, a significant resource and public forum for artists who explore and experiment, has a new location in Hingetown and its very own new ‘ART’ sign. The ‘R’ is Neon filled clear glass. The Argon filled letter ’T’ is from the collection of multi-media artist Dana L. Depew.
Location
Akron Soul Train Gallery
191 S Main Street, Akron, OH, 44308
About the Artist
Jeffry Chiplis was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University. The artist currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been making sculpture from recycled argon and neon gases for more than two decades. He has shown his work in New York City, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Krasl Art Center, St. Joe, Michigan as well as many other locations. The artist was also invited to do a residency at Mikulov, Czech Republic. The neon sculptures are in collections around the country. He participated in the Dlectricity Festival in Detroit, Michigan where he wrote 'repoetry' on the side of the N'Namdi Contemporary Art Center.