Before one of America's most iconic streets was desecrated into a mall, Fremont street was a wonderland of classic casino signs. Mitchell Funk doubles down and turns a wildly colorful scene into an optically stimulating abstract image. To do it, he had to choose the right camera angle. All of the signs had to be in a row. A Nikon 500mm "mirror lens" was used. This special lens compresses the neon and bulbs so that they would blend together in a unique way.
Finally, he thew the image radically out of focus. The result, the Mint sign expands into a panel of sensuous pinks and magentas so hot they make love to your eyeballs. Binion's Horseshoe is transformed into layers of diaphanous blues which overlap pinks. The street scene is morphed into sections of color and ringlets of light intersecting with calligraphic elements. Perspective is diminished with foreground and background elements pushed to the same plane. Sharp becomes fuzzy in a beautiful composition with no central point. Ultimately, several casino signs have become one sign. The Fremont sign.
Mitchell Funk
American, b.1950
American, b.1950
The Fremont Sign, 1974
Photographs, Archival Pigment Print
4 of 20
29 x 43 in. (73.7 x 109.2 cm.)
1971 Printed later
Signed and dated lower right
Photographs, Archival Pigment Print
4 of 20
29 x 43 in. (73.7 x 109.2 cm.)
1971 Printed later
Signed and dated lower right
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