- Venue
- Walthamstow Village Window Gallery
- Starts
- Friday, December 4, 2015
- Ends
- Sunday, January 10, 2016
- Address
- Village Square, 47 Orford Road E17 9NJ
- Location
- London
- Organiser
- Walthamstow Village Window Gallery
World-famous neon heaven God’s Own Junkyard are dedicating a glowing installation of neon signs and artworks at the Walthamstow Village Window Gallery to the memory of local neon artist Chris Bracey, who died last year.
When invited by the gallery to create a display in its former hardware store windows overlooking the village square Linda Bracey, Chris’s widow, jumped at the chance. “Chris was born in Walthamstow and he recalled this very shop as his earliest memory of a colourful window display, and loved this special time of the year because it was his birthday on Christmas day and everyone was happy.” So it’s doubly poignant and fitting that his family will share with the community an entrancing selection of Chris’s pieces in neon and bulbs to shine the light he loved into the heart of the village he grew up in.”
Chris followed his father Dick into the neon business in the mid-70s, starting with a creation for the Pink Pussycat Club in Soho. He was soon making iconic pieces for four Batman films, Eyes Wide Shut, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as for clients Agent Provocateur and Selfridges. His family are carrying the neon sign creating baton into the future, ensuring that Chris’s light that will never go out.
He set-up the Junkyard in Walthamstow to house his growing collection of neon artworks, salvaged signs, props and sculptures including a Doctor Who Tardis and over-sized glitter balls. It appears regularly as a backdrop in music videos and photoshoots, often gracing the pages of fashion, culture and travel magazines.
The Junkyard is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for FREE and is just a short walk from the Window Gallery, whose temporary display will be a wonderful taster for the amazing neon delights of Chris Bracey’s Junkyard proper.
