American Sign Museum
2515 Essex Place
Cincinnati, Ohio 45206
(800) 925-1110
(513) 258-4020, ext. 336
Fax: (513) 421-5144
E-mail: tod@signmuseum.org
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James Guçwa: Airbrushed Art
(Adapted from an article which appeared in the August, 1999 issue of
Airbrush Action, www.airbrushaction.com.)
For the last 15 years, James "Kingneon" Guçwa has been carving
out his niche as a fine artist working with the theme of vintage neon
signs. He has painted literally hundreds of such canvasses and successfully
marketed them through a host of galleries, particulary in the Southwest.
Guçwa began his career with six neon sign pieces which he shopped
around Scottsdale, AZ area galleries. They were quickly accepted and started
selling immediately. In those days, the canvasses were monopolized by
an image of a sign, with a little sky for background. The paintings were
done in either stark daylight or as night renderings.
Later, he stepped back and incorporated more of the roadside scene and/or
respective architecture: However, neon was still the star. Eventually,
the neon sign settings caught the eye of Harley Davidson who realized
that these scenes were the perfect backdrops for spotlighting its popular
classic motorcycles. A deal was made so that Guçwa is now licensed
to paint Harleys into his canvasses. Once a painting is approved by Harley,
the originals are then for sale. Similar licensing agreements have followed
for Corvette and Hot Wheels toy cars.
Initially, Guçwa worked with oil and used a handbrush to create
his huge 48 x 64-in. pieces. But it was difficult to create the characteristic
neon glow he needed, so he taught himself, after much experimentation,
to airbrush. His medium of choice today is Createx acrylics for both the
airbrushing and handbrush work as well.
"Western Motel" — 48 x 36 in., acrylic on canvas © 1990
The recent move to Harley prints has caused Guçwa to again alter
his format style to some degree. Besides bringing the often second story
neon to ground level, he has diminished the physical dimensions of his canvasses.
The early works that were as large as 5 x 7 ft. are now in a scale that
is more practical for producing prints.
A small sampling of Guçwa's early and more recent work is included
here. The artist can be contacted via e-mail at kingneon@kingneonbooks.com
or you can view more of his work at his website: www.pegasus00.com/kingneon.htm or www.kingneonbooks.com.
"Return to Utahna Motel" — 37 x 46 in, oils on canvas © 1986.
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"Grand Motel" — 64 x 92 in., acrylic on canvas © 1995.
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"Pekin Chop Suey" — 35 x 26 in., acrylic on canvas © 1995.
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"Blue Fox" — 64 x 48 in., oils on canvas © 1995.
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"Yacht Club" — 24 x 48 in., oils on canvas © 1995.
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"El Rey Motel" — 28 x 40 in., oils on canvas © 1991.
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"Bar-X" — 48 x 72 in., oils on canvas © 1994.
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"Return to Hi-Life" — 18 x 40 in., oils on canvas © 1994.
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"Rialto" — 37 x 46 in, Prismacolor © 1989.
"Time to Buy" — 18 x 24 in., oils on canvas © 1988.
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"A Very Lucky Motel" — 48 x 48 in., oils on canvas © 1993.
"Welcome Cowboy" — 50 x 50 in., acrylics on canvas © 1996.
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"M&M Café" — 32 x 24 in., acrylic on canvas © 1998.
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