Reflecting his interest in using language to shed light on the intertwined relationship between politics, history, and race, Steve Locke’s neon installations isolate phrases—for example, “a dream” and “there is no one left to blame”—that are also often the titles of the exhibitions in which they are first presented. Taking into consideration scale and letter case, these works are intentionally assembled to evoke specific messages. The artist’s use of neon is influenced by the prolific signs for businesses like the Yellow Pages and Hostess Cake that populated the tops and façades of buildings in Detroit, his childhood home. Locke explains, “Putting these personal thoughts in a historical form used specifically for mass communication makes them public, and public admissions are rare in our current political moment.”
