Rudi Stern
The world lost a great man last week... Couldn't find an obit anywhere, though.
Rudi Stern's fascination with light and color was responsible for revitalizing the craft of neon after it became nearly extinct in the late 1970s. His book, "Let There Be Neon", and New York shop/gallery of the same name grabbed a lot of people's attention and dragged the art back from the brink of oblivion. Today's urban landscape would be very, very different if it weren't for Rudi.
Like many neon craftspeople, I owe my career to him. Sixteen years ago, it was through Rudi's writings that I hooked up with an artist who would later become my teacher and very dear friend. Indirectly, I think I even owe him my life... The early 1990s was a very bad period for me, and I mayn't have stuck around if it weren't for the peace I found in the glass shop.
Goodbye, Rudi. May your eternal night be neon-lit.
Rudi Stern's fascination with light and color was responsible for revitalizing the craft of neon after it became nearly extinct in the late 1970s. His book, "Let There Be Neon", and New York shop/gallery of the same name grabbed a lot of people's attention and dragged the art back from the brink of oblivion. Today's urban landscape would be very, very different if it weren't for Rudi.
Like many neon craftspeople, I owe my career to him. Sixteen years ago, it was through Rudi's writings that I hooked up with an artist who would later become my teacher and very dear friend. Indirectly, I think I even owe him my life... The early 1990s was a very bad period for me, and I mayn't have stuck around if it weren't for the peace I found in the glass shop.
Goodbye, Rudi. May your eternal night be neon-lit.