Philippe Parreno's Marquee belongs to an ongoing body of work started in 2006 that consists of more than 60 existing marquees to date. The rectangular corpus made of transparent Plexiglas houses 70 white light bulbs arranged on a grid; it is strapped with 6 white neon tubes. The light bulbs and neon lights flicker alternatively according to five different lighting programs conceived by the artist.
Parreno’s Marquees are unique pieces, individual in their form, light effect and construction. The artist’s Marquees combine lighting techniques that are almost a thing of the past (such as incandescent bulbs and neon tubes) with modern acrylics that are milled, shaped and formed according to the latest fabrication methods. The light-lit planes of the Marquees carry no text, thus the works play with a level of abstraction and acquire a different meaning according to the context of an exhibition and imagination of the viewer.