STYLE & TRENDS
Vegas IS the Muse
Las Vegas has had many muses over its dynamic history, from sequin-clad showgirls to the Rat Pack. Residents know there’ s so much more to the city we cherish than just the bright lights and craps tables alone. We’ re putting the spotlight on several artists for whom Las Vegas IS the muse.
J E R R Y M ISKO
Painter and muralist Jerry Misko was born and raised in Las Vegas.“ I still love Vegas— especially the history of it and all the mythology and iconography.” He made the transition from the food and beverage world and opened his first gallery. As he shifted into pure abstraction, he began using neon and lights as his favorite subject matter.
His work embodies that feeling of,“ stumbling out of casinos at five in the morning, in those twilight hours where the signs are still lit but the sun is coming up – the beautiful colors, shapes, and energy of old-school signs.”
Early on in his painting career, he was commissioned to do two paintings for the Saks Fifth Avenue store on the Las Vegas Strip, which helped raise his profile and led to more commissions.
Those two paintings,“ Lush Light” and“ All the Sharp Zigzags Go Soft,” remain two of his favorites.
“‘ Lush Light’ is actively lit from the Flamingo sign. The other side of my work has always been the decay painting – when a sign sits in the Neon Boneyard, or even out in the world, and it is not taken care of. The paint chips; you can see the hand of the artist who painted it.
You can see the brushstrokes. The decay from the brutal Vegas sun.”
Misko hopes his paintings bring people joy.“ Light is a symbol of positive things. I want people to feel transported into that space where Vegas lived— that mythological space. It’ s really the positivity of that feeling— the thing that made Las Vegas a cultural touchstone. Joy is really the thing I feel most and try to get through in my work: color and light. I want people to feel uplifted.”
“ I work from a happy place mostly, a place of love and love of place— especially Las Vegas. Not necessarily the reality of it, but the myth of it.”
While he uses spray paint for many of his murals, including ones in James Trees’ High Steaks Vegas steakhouse, he typically uses acrylic on canvas for the majority of his fine art practice. Most of his business is commission based, though he does do limited runs of prints, usually in editions of either 7, 11 or 21, as a nod to his beloved Las Vegas.
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CREDIT: JERRY MISKO