Keith McKellar

Neon Eulogy previous next   Ekstasis Editions

Neon Eulogy: Vancouver Café and Street consists of riveting line drawings by artist Laughing Hand (Keith McKellar) of the disappearing neon of Vancouver, BC, accompanied by jazz riff tales of the street. For the last sixteen years street artist Laughing Hand has been quietly capturing Vancouver’s dives and haunts, through the metaphor of neon and its days of glory. McKellar’s expressionist portraits of famous cafés and theatres combined with anecdotal histories of landmarks, characters and the streets form a unique document of a fascinating past, already fading from view. The Ovaltine Cafe, the Aristocratic, the Ho Ho, the Orpheum, the Stanley, the Only, the Smiling Buddha, the Yale –– these landmarks and their heritage neon are a window into our culture in McKellar’s hand. A poignant and wildly entertaining social comment from the journals of a bohemian sleuth, Neon Eulogy: Vancouver Café and Street is a startling glimpse of Canadian cultural heritage.

Ex-cabbie turned street artist, working from a push-cart wagon, composing on location, Laughing Hand is the alter-ego of artist Keith McKellar. McKellar grew up in Prince George, BC. More recently his travels, as a street artist for eighteen years, have taken him on urban vagabond walking journeys in North America and in Asia. McKellar’s writings and drawings appear in Canadian magazines and newspapers. His first collection Line-Poem Drawings, was published by Ekstasis Editions in 1983. His drawings of neon landmarks were part of the City of Lights vintage neon show at the Vancouver Museum in 1999. Keith McKellar divides his time between Vancouver and Victoria, BC.

 
ISBN 1-896860-92-3
History/Art
160 Pages
$24.95
10 x 10
Now available