Illustrating the ABC’s of a glorious past

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

What: "Neon Boneyard Las Vegas A-Z"

Where: Reed Whipple Cultural Center, 821 Las Vegas Blvd. North

When: Through Nov. 12

Admission: Free

Information: 229-4674

Since the Neon Boneyard popped up on the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard six years ago, artists and photographers have turned out varied interpretations of the bulb-heavy, rusty artifacts.

More recently, Chicago photographer Judy Natal has managed to wow us with a fresh interpretation of the sign collection.

Her compilation of 26 large-scale color prints hang like giant snapshots at Reed Whipple Cultural Center, where "Neon Boneyard Las Vegas A-Z" is on display through Nov. 12.

Magnificent in size and artistry, the metal structures appear in Natal's photos as living creatures mingling in their private community under the sunny skies.

Each image corresponds with a letter from the English alphabet. Rather than broad overviews, she fills the space with close-ups and fragments.

A methodical and meticulous worker, Natal spent hours walking through the fenced-in boneyard, waiting for moments when the harsh Las Vegas light was more merciful and getting to know what she was looking at: "It takes a while to understand how seductive and how layered those things are."

She rearranged some letters at the boneyard, but says most of the subjects were presented as she found them.

What's most fascinating is that the tenor is the same in each image, even though Natal, a photography professor at Columbia College in Chicago, shot the photos over a three-year period.

Snow fell during one of her early visits, and she didn't shoot because she was searching for a consistent collection rather than the "different faces" of life in the boneyard.

"It was almost like getting into character," Natal says. "I had a really clear idea of what I wanted the images to look like."

The loaning out and returning of signs created "different intersections," says Natal, who considers the boneyard to be a living place.

For example, the last time Natal saw the genie lamp featured in her photo "C," she says, "it was a different kind of creature. The lighting was different. There were different letters around it. It looked kind of sad, actually."

The exhibit is a continuation of an "ongoing obsession" with the alphabet that began in 1999 with a photographic series titled "EarthWords" in Joshua Tree National Park, where Natal was an artist in residence. Natal's interest in the language of landscape continued with "Joshua Tree A-Z," a series of trees that formed letters throughout the Mojave National Preserve.

The "Neon Boneyard" was a natural progression. Compared to "EarthWords," she says, "it was so different, but the signs are just another kind of landscape."

"Neon Boneyard Las Vegas A-Z" is accompanied by a book of the same name, published by the Center for American Places (in collaboration with the Columbia College photography department). The book was printed by Oddi Printing Iceland.

Natal will be in Las Vegas during the Vegas Valley Book Festival, Nov. 3-5, to sign and discuss her book.