Michael Robert Flechtner (June 19, 1951) is an American artist known for his work in

neon art Neon lighting consists of brightly glowing, electrified glass tubes or bulbs that contain rarefied neon or other gases. Neon lights are a type of cold cathode gas-discharge light. A neon tube is a sealed glass tube with a metal electrode a ...

. In 2009 he was commissioned by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

to create the first-ever neon postage stamp for the

Forever Stamp Non-denominated postage is postage intended to meet a certain postage rate that retains full validity for that intended postage rate even after the rate is increased. It does not show a monetary value, or denomination, on the face. In many Engli ...

series. The "Celebrate" stamp was released in 2011. The stamp was reissued in 2015, and the original 33” x 44” neon is on exhibit at the Smithsonian

National Postal Museum The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the Postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United S ...

. An Ohio native, with a Masters in Fine Art (sculpture & painting) from Wichita State University Flechtner moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, inspired first by the artist Stephen Antonakos and subsequent visit to the

Museum of Neon Art The Museum of Neon Art (MONA) is an institution that exists to encourage learning and curiosity through the preservation, collection, and interpretation of neon art. The first museum devoted to art that incorporates neon lighting, it exclusively ex ...

(MONA), then located in Downtown Los Angeles. Flechtner now sits on MONA's advisory board. Flechtner says his fascination with light began when he was a child. "I’d go to church and see light streaming through the stained glass windows, my father, replacing bulbs sitting in a pile Christmas lights and various flavors of Jell-O." His public art includes “A Neon Aquarium” at the corner of Olympic and Sawtelle in Los Angeles, and installations in Minneapolis and Tokyo. In 2019 he began the physical reproduction and replacement of the neon signage at the drive-in movie theater in his home town of Tiffin, Ohio. Flechtner is the recipient of a J. Paul Getty Trust Fund Fellowship for the Visual Arts, the Botticelli Award, and Ford Foundation Award.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletchner, Michael Living people Sculptors from Ohio Neon artists Date of birth missing (living people) Wichita State University alumni American stamp designers 1951 births