Details

Object type

neon sign

Title

Dad

Artist/Maker

Rabiya Choudhry maker

Place Associated

Scotland, Edinburgh (place made)

Date

2018

Materials

neon tubing in clear perspex

Dimensions

overall: 1000 mm x 300 mm

Description

Dad is a turquoise neon sign that spells out MAZHAR, the name of the artist's father. The neon sits inside a clear rectangular Perspex box which hangs from two metal link chains attached to either end. The work was originally displayed in the window of Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, during Choudhry’s solo exhibition Coco!Nuts! in 2018. Choudhry felt that there was a lack of public visibility of names like her father’s. Through the work she wanted to celebrate her dad - who had recently been in a car crash – as well as other migrants that come to the UK and cities like Glasgow to work hard and support their family. Choudhry’s dad owned a fashion and textiles shop in Glasgow and the use of neon if a reference to this and general use of neon and signage in retail.

In 2019 Choudhry described the work as such:

Mazhar is the name of my dad - a Pakistani immigrant who moved to Glasgow in the 1970s. His name means manifestation / phenomenon. I have almost lost my dad many times over the years due to poor health and accidents. I made this when my mum was still alive, at the time I was trying to make a record of him, an electronic incantation. To have a physical manifestation of him if he wasn’t here as around this time of making this my dad had just survived a car crash.

As well as this, I wanted to celebrate him and the many immigrants that came to Glasgow in the 70s to set up businesses and are still struggling to keep that going. It was on all day and night in the window of the Transmission gallery in 2018 and it lit up the whole street in celebration of this and was inspired by the ‘Powders’ neon from the dads’ laundry shop in the British Asian film My Beautiful Laundrette.'

The work was acquired through the Contemporary Art Society’s Rapid Response Fund in 2019 which was set up as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Three works were acquired - two paintings and a neon work. Although these works were created pre Covid-19 these particular works were selected as they can open up conversations through the lens of the pandemic. For example, alongside its powerful message of parentage and visibility in society the work can also now reflect on the role local shops took on during the pandemic in becoming front line, essential services to local communities.

Credit Line/Donor

Presented by the Contemporary Art Society through the Rapid Response Fund, 2020

ID Number

S.493

Location

Gallery of Modern Art