Lili Lakich

Liliana Diane Lakich (born June 4, 1944) is an American artist, best known for her work in neon sculpture. As a child, she had been fascinated by neon advertising, and she built her career around illuminated art, with its special emotional power. Lakich has received many private and public art commissions, in one case assisting the city of Los Angeles in a street-lighting project. She also co-founded the Museum of Neon Art (MONA), the first specialist collection of art in electric media. Her sculptures have been featured in major publications on contemporary sculpture.

Early life Lakich was born in Washington, D.C., but soon moved to Tucson, Arizona when her father's military career transferred the family to Davis Monthan Air Base and then to California when he was sent to the Korean War. They went on frequent road trips where she was exposed to roadside neon signs.

My family was into road trips…ur idea of recreation was to get in the car and drive on a weekend. So we would pick the motel by which one had the best neon sign. — Lakich in interview with Curve, 2002.

Lakich began exhibiting neon sculpture in 1973 at Gallery 707 on La Cienega Blvd. Her first solo exhibition, at Womanspace in The Woman's Building in 1974, garnered a review in Artforum magazine by Peter Plagens where he commented "...the whole show is solid, however, I doubt whether Lakich will confine her development to static, confined neon, if for no other reason than the recent liberation of electric lights through Process, video, and performance art." (Boy, was he wrong. Thirty years later, Lakich has become one of the premier artists in the world working in illuminated sculpture). In 1986 she authored Neon Lovers Glow in the Dark and in 2007 LAKICH: For Light. For Love. For Life.

Her sculptures have been included in major publications on contemporary sculpture, neon sculpture and feminist art including Signs, and in many private and corporate collections. She has had solo shows in Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles.

Lakich created the L.A. Angel in 1992 on the West wall of 300 block of South Olive with the intention to serve a practical problem for the city of Los Angeles. When California Plaza on Bunker Hiss was extended, it created a dark, tunnel-like effect along the 300 block of South Olive. It was decided by the developer to install a light sculpture to meet the City's lighting standards and worked with the Museum of Neon Art in 1989 to commission $75,000 to a woman artist to complete the work. The piece is constructed of lightweight honeycomb aluminum sheets in an abstracted human shape with streaks of neon lights incorporated. It is meant to represent the culture, industry and character of the city of Los Angeles while speaking to the past and present of the city.

A few years later, Lakich was commissioned a to create a sculpture in a multi-million dollar home in the hills of Santa Ana. The artist presented four different concepts for the project, but it was this one that intrigued Mrs. Freed as her husband is a therapist. Lakich initially built out the work of inch-thick gator foam and took it to the site to test the scale. She then used honeycomb aluminum supported by a steel structure to realize the work. In 1995, Tell Me About Yourself intrigues many people as it is unusual to see a neon sculpture in an outdoor residential setting. But it has proved popular with the couple's guests, and it delights them that when coming home from an airplane trip they can spot it from the sky on the ground below.

In 2009, she completed the 114-ft public art commission, Flyaway in 2009 for the Van Nuys FlyAway Bus Terminal at 7610 Woodley Ave. in Van Nuys. This sculpture constructed of honeycomb aluminum and contains two figures: Pegasus connected to abstracted flying human figure with streaks of neon lighting and argon tubing. Where the Eagle Flies (1990), lobby of the Washington Building, Los Angeles Drive-In, (1984) Unity Savings, Beverly Hills, CA L.A. Angel (1992), 300 block of South Olive, Los Angeles TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF (1995) Commissioned by Evelyn and Frank Freed, Santa Ana, California Guardian, Miller Children's Hospital at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Flyaway (2009), Van Nuys FlyAway Bus Terminal, Los Angeles