Anonymous portraits rendered in monochrome glow above a dense bank of salvaged commercial neon signs — 'Orchid Restaurant,' 'Girls,' Chinese characters, and trade insignia — assembled into a freestanding wall. Vhils builds the faces from configured neon tubing rather than carving, treating the vernacular signage of the disappearing city as both material and subject. Created in 2016 for the solo exhibition Debris at the HOCA Foundation in Hong Kong, the same installation subsequently travelled with the exhibition to Macau, where it was presented installed on a boat.
Year2016PlaceMacau, ChinaMediumLightMaterialsInstallation with neon lightsSeriesgleam seriesTypeUnique piece