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The Word on the Street, neon signs by Ray Beldner, is an installation
in the gallery's front windows at 560 South First Street. The Word
on the Street is part of the ICA's "Night Moves" installation
series, an innovative program that gives the ICA a nighttime presence
and animates the downtown cultural landscape by showcasing after-dark
programming in the gallery's windows.
Ray Beldner uses language from homeless signs to make poetic neon versions
that reflect sentiments of our own shortcomings, losses and desires.
An expert in appropriation and unexpected collaborations, Beldner's
work in part pays homage to Bruce Nauman's famous neon sign, The
True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths. Responding
to this statement, Beldner reveals human truths written by homeless
individuals he has met on the street. Twisting what one would expect
in a neon window display, Beldner's signs cleverly reflect on what it
means to be an artist and a human.
Born in San Francisco, Beldner received a BFA from the San Francisco
Art Institute and an MFA from Mills College in Oakland, California.
He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions both nationally
and internationally and his work can be found in many public and private
collections including the Federal Reserve Board, Washington D.C., the
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona, the Fine Arts Museums
of San Francisco, the Oakland Museum of California, and the San Jose
Museum of Art.
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