Jeffrey L. Neumann

Press Release

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—

Richard Levy Gallery is pleased to present Route 66 Centennial Collection, a solo show by Jeffrey L. Neumann. The pieces in this exhibition document in anthropological detail the regional, car-based culture of the Southwest and specifically highlight the significance of Route 66. This exhibition is a Route 66 Centennial Certified Project and part of a national effort to commemorate the living legacy of the road.

Jeffrey L. Neumann’s realist paintings of neon signs and roadside stops are inspired by the formative years he spent as a child traveling along Route 66. The specificity with which Neumann renders these vestiges of mid-century car culture against the moody desert atmosphere inspires a deeply felt nostalgia: no long-time denizen of the Southwest could fail to recognize the emotional effect of neon green against a blanket of warm, orange-gray evening clouds. Reminiscent of Ed Ruscha’s Twentysix Gasoline Stations, which also took Route 66 commercial architecture as its genesis, Neumann’s paintings are a devoted record of an America quickly vanishing in the rear-view mirror.

Jeffrey L. Neumann (b. 1953) is based in upstate New York but has spent much of his life living in or visiting the Southwest. He earned a B.S. in Art and Urban Life and an M.Ed. in Art Education from Springfield College in Massachusetts. Following a career in the fine art papers industry, as a high school and college art instructor, and as an art dealer, Neumann turned to painting full time. He is a member of the Society for Commercial Archeology, an organization dedicated to honoring and preserving the roadside culture of North America. Neumann’s work is in numerous corporate and private collections including Alexandria Museum of Art, Mass Mutual Life Insurance Co., Fleet Bank, Baystate Medical Center, U.S. Congressional Offices, and the City of Springfield, MA.