Rudolph George Stern (November 30, 1936 – August 15, 2006) was an American multimedia artist most widely known for his work in neon. In his later years, he concentrated on making documentary films.

Biography

Stern was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. He graduated from

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in studio arts and from

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1960 with a master's degree. He also studied painting with

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright and teacher, best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expre ...

and

Hans Hofmann Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both preceded and influenced Abstrac ...

. In the mid-1960s he moved to New York City, where he met the poet and artist Jackie Cassen. They collaborated on multimedia installations of

kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...

, including the "Psychedelic Celebration Number One" for

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

advocate

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...

, and installations at the

Electric Circus ''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') is a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988, to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...

nightclub. With video artist and documentarian John Reilly, Stern founded

Global Village Video Global Village Video (Global Village Video Resource Center) was a pioneering Manhattan-based media center that operated from the late 1960s to the 1980s. It produced and showcased "Guerrilla TV" style video documentaries that featured subject matte ...

in 1969. In 1972, he founded Let There Be Neon, a studio and gallery in New York. He designed and produced neon pieces for the Broadway show, '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'', and other art and music performances, as well as commercial signs. Together with Katharine Kean, he directed the 1992 documentary ''Haití: Killing the Dream'', starring

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theo ...

. Between 1999 and 2001, his multimedia installation "Theater of Light" was shown at multiple locations in New York and New Jersey. The installation involved several screens, more than 30 projectors and "surrounded audience members with densely layered, constantly changing images, intricately choreographed to music." Stern died in 2006 at his home in Cadiz, Spain, from complications of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He was married twice, to Moira North and then to Raffaella Trivi. He had two daughters: Stella (with Trivi) and Lumiere (by an earlier relationship).

Publications

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References

External links

Let There Be Neon

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Rudi 1936 births 2006 deaths American artists Neon artists Artists from Connecticut

Biography

Publications

See also

References

External links