Neon artist Andy Doig reveals his first solo exhibition ‘WHEN I WENT HOME’ at Helm Gallery in Brighton until 8 December 2024. A deeply personal exhibition, ‘WHEN I WENT HOME’ explores the artist’s experience of caring for his 91-year-old mother as she struggled with dementia.
Doig channels the emotions of his experience living with his mother and caring for her as her dementia advanced into a series of neon light sculptures. A pile of neon cardboard boxes acts as a metaphor for packing up his mother’s life into boxes as she moved into a care home, while quotes such as ‘Is this my home’, ‘What have you done’, ‘How dare you’ and ‘Why are we not married’ are immortalised through neon wall sculptures.
Doig’s immersive exhibition opens to coincide with a renovation of Helm Gallery’s interior and offers an alternative way to experience art to white cube art galleries.
Culturalee spoke to Andy Doig about the exhibition and his career as a neon artist.
Your solo exhibition at Helm Gallery in Brighton was inspired by memories of poignant moments spent with your 91-year-old mother. Did you title the exhibition ‘When I went Home’ because Brighton is your hometown and also because it refers to your childhood home?
No, my mum lives out in Ferring, having moved there to retire. It was never my childhood home, but strangely it felt a little like it when I found myself clearing out possessions my parents had kept of mine, family photos and things I was familiar with.
Your preferred medium is neon and you have created a series of neon sculptures based on things your mother has said, in the process addressing themes of guilt, family dynamics and difficult decisions that arise when a parent is ageing. Quotes include ‘How dare you?’, ‘Something is missing’, ‘Is this my home’ and ‘What have you done’ evoke complex feelings and memories. Why did you decide to immortalise your mother’s words in neon for this exhibition?
I think it’s important to capture all of those things, be it photography, prose or sculpture. My medium is glass and light, so I used that. I wasn’t sure what would happen, or what might evolve, but it’s true to say a story emerged, and I’m happy with the choices I made.
The neon artworks are exhibited in the newly revamped Helm Gallery and include your mother’s quotes as well as a series of empty neon boxes representing the upheaval of packing up one’s life. Did you work closely with the gallery on a bespoke installation where the art relates to the space to create an intimate domestic experience?
The home of so many possessions! How we keep so much, attaching importance to it. Then it’s taken away, and we care for none. Full boxes, empty boxes. The gallery space has the scope to allow for installation. Although each box is an individual artwork for sale, I wanted to display them in a way that added to the story.
You cared for your mother while living with her for four months until her advancing dementia meant she had to move to a care home. Was it a cathartic process to create art for this solo exhibition that processed some of the emotions you and your mother experienced through this difficult time?
Yes, in every way I imagined and more. I am so pleased with the results and the feedback from the people I have met.
You studied glass bending in 1992 at the British School of Neon before establishing a neon studio in 1995 under the arches on Brighton’s iconic seafront. What was it that attracted you to neon as a medium?
The science, the skill, the cultural significance. And it was all attainable, with support from my wife who believed in me all the way.
You had a successful career in West End musicals, TV and indie films before focusing on showing your art in galleries. Do you still create neons for stage or screen?
Yes. On occasions. There are directors and designers that want authenticity.
Brighton has been your home for decades. Have you noticed a boom in the art and cultural scene there over the years, and why do you think it’s such an attractive place for artists to live and work?
I know of as many artists in Brighton that still create fantastic work, and I can’t remember there ever not being ‘Artist Open Houses’! So boom or bust, Brighton will remain bohemian. It’s attractive because Brighton is a mix of rich people and poor people. And the last stop before you’re knee-deep in the channel.
Images Courtesy of Andy Doig/ Helm Gallery.
Andy Doig ‘WHEN I WENT HOME’ is at Helm Gallery in Brighton until 8 December 2024.
