Columbia City Gallery's 'By Light' Is a Bright Spot in These Dark Times

In a Columbia City storefront, a blue portal glows in the window.

Well, not an actual portal. Rather, it's a glass tube shaped into a perfect circle with the neon gas inside glowing a bright blue. Made by Seattle artist Kelsey Fernkopf, "Big Circle" seemingly floats in the window of Columbia City Gallery, beckoning passersby to enter its vortex and check out the rest of the light-based art inside. In these chaotic windy, sunny, rainy, early days of spring, the neon glow is a welcome wormhole to fall into. 

"Big Circle" is one of several works in "By Light" at Columbia City Gallery, which is on view until April 27. Curated by Tommy Gregory, artist and Port of Seattle senior art program manager, the exhibition recognizes a small sampling of the talented artists in Seattle who either bend neon or use light sources in their art: Henry Jackson-Spieker, KCJ Szwedzinski, Fernkopf, Sean Hennessey, Gregory, and Grace Athena Flott (the sole painter in the show).

"In the dark times we are living through politically and socially in this country and world, I [wanted] to bring positive light, both literally and metaphorically speaking, to this art show," Gregory said.

Though the six artists use light as their medium, each work approaches it quite differently. Hennessey's "Past.Present.Future." is composed of melted glass sheets that have taken on the shapes of light bulbs against a brocade background. Covered in dichroic glass and illuminated by an LED light box, the work changes texture as the viewer moves around the room. In "Electric lady," Flott harnesses light through her use of oil paint with a scene of a headless mannequin awash in sumptuous neon oranges, whites, and blues, suggesting a lonely corner in a room above a busy street.

"[Flott] just emits light with paint, it just seems like she's creating a light source that's so genuine," said Gregory. "I thought that the lights artists — the ones who utilize a plug — would appreciate this painter who seems to get their effect kind of serendipitously."

Neon is also ubiquitous throughout "By Light." Heavily used in signage in the United States since the early 20th century, neon largely fell out of favor after the introduction of cheaper, less-finicky LED light (though you can still spot plenty of neon-based signage around Seattle). Over the past decade or so, more artists in the region have incorporated neon into their artistic practices, drawing on Seattle's historic use of the medium and thanks to classes at the Pilchuck School of Glass and the (now closed) Western Neon School of Art. 

"By Light" artist Fernkopf has been bending neon for four decades and is a noted master of the craft, working in both signage and art installations here in the city since 1987. His art practice often places neon pieces in unexpected environments, whether that's under abandoned bridges or on nature trails. Fernkopf opts for simplicity in his work, utilizing streamlined neon forms that call attention to the context in which they're placed. 

"My whole thing is pushing the boundaries of the medium," reflected Fernkopf. "I try to push the material — the glass — to its limits, and that includes taking it out in weird places and all that stuff."

Installed directly opposite from "Big Circle" is "Transit," another elegantly simple neon piece by Fernkopf where two circles — one blue and one green — are bifurcated by a neon orange line. He calls these sculptures "half domes" that somewhat resemble depictions of black holes in their use of line and space.

For his contribution to the show, Jackson-Spieker — a University of Washington glass professor and sculptor — threaded a straight tube of blue neon through seven pieces of triangular blue cast glass for his piece "Oscillation." The result is a work that resembles stitching or a zipper, a study in tension between the tangible glass pieces and the intangible light source. In "Two Sessions," Gregory meditated on the experience of being a mixed-race person by placing a white neon tube through two empty brown Session beer bottles. And Szwedzinski's art piece is a red neon sign that flashes between the phrases "BELIEVES WHAT WE ARE TOLD" and "LIES WE ARE TOLD." 

The show at Columbia City Gallery is done in step with a six-month installation at Rainier Arts Center (RAC), also curated by Gregory. Riffing off the former Christian Scientist use of the RAC building, Gregory teamed up with Szwedzinski to create a modern interpretation of stained glass with abstract, brightly colored neon forms that activate the space above the glass doorways and windows. As a Columbia City resident, Gregory has been keen to activate the neighborhood with more contemporary art. 

"My thought was this would be something that connects these two institutions [RAC and Columbia City Gallery] that are trying to do creative things, and in a neighborhood of Seattle that isn't Capitol Hill or Pioneer Square that have these dense art blocks and locations for contemporary work," said Gregory. "It's my neighborhood — I want people to have access to those things."

"By Light" will be on view at the Columbia City Gallery until April 27. To mark the closing of the exhibition, on April 19 from 6 to 7 p.m., Stranger writer Charles Mudede will join Gregory for a conversation about art and architecture at Rainier Arts Center and then walk over to "By Light."