66 signs of neon

Noah Purifoy and Judson Powell began 66 Signs of Neon with assemblages created from debris they collected in the aftermath of the Watts riots of August 1965. Purifoy and Powell enlisted six other artists to create 66 pieces for the First Annual Watts Art Festival in 1966, reacting in part to the McCone Report, a government commission which sought the causes of the Watts riots and advocated for necessities to better the community, but neglected to include any mention of art education. "66 Signs began as an expression of the necessity for art education, affirming the importance of this avenue of self-expression to individuals in the community of Watts."


"The art works of 66 should be looked at, not as particular things in themselves, but for the sake of establishing communication, involvement in the act of living. The reason for being in our universe is to establish communication with others, one to one. And communication is not possible without the establishment of equality, one to one." [Catalog]

According to Paul von Blum, of the 66 mixed-media pieces in the exhibition, "most found no permanent home and the materials returned to the junk heaps from which they originally came." [AAVAD]