Tom Adair’s neon artworks cast midcentury modernism in a new light

Modernism is set aglow

Artist Tom Adair’s debut solo show Home gives Melbourne’s midcentury modern architecture a new glow.

The works – on view at Metro Gallery in Victoria – combine airbrushing with graffiti and neon lighting. Melbourne-based Adair first documents the dwellings on camera before digitally translating them into monochrome halftone renderings, then adding dots and lines by hand using an airbrush.

‘The neon lights are then bent to specific shapes that accentuate the design lines of the architecture,’ explains Adair. The artist is currently being mentored by one of Melbourne’s only neon benders, and is learning the craft himself.

Left to right: ‘Green Leafy Street’ and ‘Superbly Positioned’. Courtesy of Tom Adair

Explaining his draw to midcentury modernism, the artist adds: ‘I have always had an appreciation for good architecture from an early age thanks to my father, and have always longed to find or build the perfect family home.’

‘Whisper Quiet Bushland Setting’. Courtesy of Tom Adair

‘Home’ by Tom Adair is at Victoria’s Metro Gallery until 23 September

Read next:
Artist James Nizam gives suburbia a new glow
Toby Coulson photographs a game of suburban hide-and-seek

 

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