ERIC FLIES OFF TO CUBA
Demonstrating Neon Fabrication
During the past few years, renowned Cuban artist Kadir López has been restoring Havana’s once glorious neon through his Habana Light Neon + Signs project and in April 2019 opened the REX Neon Center, which housed a multiplex cinema until 1980. Kadir has also been receiving more and more commissions for new neon projects. He recently asked Sky Neon’s Eric Rothwarf to come help him fix up his neon fabrication shop, located in a garage behind his home and art studio.
Setting up an efficient neon fabrication shop in Cuba is somewhat improbable given the trade restrictions. Although the Obama administration lifted it, The U.S. once again has a trade embargo with Cuba. At the same time, the Cuban government doesn’t encourage trade or support small businesses. So they tend to make do with what they’ve got. Besides, neither Kadir or Eric are the type of people who let obstacles get in their way. Here’s Eric’s story:
ERIC GETS THINGS UP AND RUNNING DESPITE SETBACKS
“It took about four days to figure out how to clean all of his hardware so that Kadir’s fires all worked. His ancient air blower put out about half the pressure needed to really power a full neon shop. I had to turn off the air to one fire to use the other. This really slowed things down as U.S. neon shops typically keep two fires burning, moving from one fire to the other.
All of Kadir’s glass was 50+ years old and filthy. It had to be washed repeatedly with a hose, inside and out, and then dried in the sun. But all that cleaning was worth it. It was beautiful and very easy to work with. It must have had a very high lead content in the old days. In 2008 the US government forbid the use of lead in neon tubes, so the old glass has a very different feel than what I am accustomed to.”
THEN, THEY LAUNCH INTO A VERY BIG PRODUCTION
“In the midst of getting the shop organized, an exciting job came in and we had just 7 days to do it. The world famous, 89-year-old Cuban Singer Omara Portuondo (of the Buena Vista Social Club fame), was wrapping up her international ‘Last Kiss’ tour with agrand finale at the Havana Jazz festival 2020, to be held at the National Theatre in Havana, Sunday, January 19th.
The Festival producers asked Kadir if he could fabricate and install an 18 foot wide by 10 foot tall neon representation of Portuondo’s signature hairpiece, a scarf tied in a bow and wrapped around her head, within a week. Kadir drew the design to scale, which then had to be cut up into usable neon patterns. Then it had to be reassembled into the big pattern for installation in the theatre. He also had to build a metal frame for mounting the neon. The frame was made in three pieces, to fit into the back of his pickup truck.”
ERIC CREATES 20 PIECES OF NEON IN 5 DAYS
“I had to fabricate the 20 pieces of turquoise neon within 5 days in a shop that barely worked and with equipment that I was not used to using. By Saturday morning, the day before the concert, I fad all the neon finished and spent the rest of the day putting the pattern back together and figuring out how to wire it all. Kadir and two of his guys were going to work all night to assemble the neon so it would be ready for the Sunday night concert. Although I’d had a sleepless Friday night, worrying about everything that could go wrong, I slept fine Saturday night as Kadir and his crew installed the work. Sunday morning I waited at the shop to be ready in case something had been broken during the installation. He returned about 10 AM with the news that one piece of neon was not lighting. Turns out that the vacuum seal was bad. We call this the tip-off. A few minutes after Kadir handed me the bad piece, we got a call from the theatre; another piece was not lighting. I fixed the two bad pieces, which took a couple of hours. The whole time I was freaking out, worried that ALL twenty of my tip-offs were going to go bad. Kadir said, ‘No! Two is enough.’ ”
A FITTING BACKDROP TO OMARA PORTUONDO’S FINAL CONCERT
“Luckily, it the whole sign lit up beautifully, acting as the perfect backdrop to Portuondo’s swan song. She rocked the theatre with many beautiful Cuban folk songs. The audience was a happy picture of the Cuban people, a melting pot of many races, dancing and partying together. It really did feel like a unified classless society!
After the concert Kadir and Daniela ( his girlfriend ) and I went up on stage and were introduced to Omara and the band leader and pianist, Roberto Fonseca. Daniele took our pictures with the stars, and they graciously thanked me for coming from Philadelphia to help make their neon stage set. “Omara’s Turquoise Bow” had been one of the most stressful and exciting jobs in my neon career, but it turned out to be ‘a triumph’!”
Learn more about Kadir Lopez neon work, and his mission to restore Havana’s neon in Great Big Story.