Go See: Dan Flavin at Zwirner & Wirth, New York, March 6-May 3

March 9th, 2008


The nominal three (to William of Ockham), 1963 [telegraph uk]

Zwirner & Wirth is re-staging a seminal exhibition of Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light sculptures which first took place in 1964 at Green Gallery in New York. The show marked the first time his work was entirely composed of fluorescent lights– a practice which would characterize him for the rest of his career, making him commonly regarded as one of the most influential artists of the late 20th century.

Exhibition information [Zwirner and Wirth]
Biography of Dan Flavin [NGA]
More [The New York Times]

Each of the seven works from the original exhibition are displayed in a historically accurate recreation of their original presentation, along with Flavin’s drawings and notes relating to the Green Gallery show. Flavin’s exploration of properties of light and his strict use of non-traditional materials established him as a pioneer of minimalism. Especially sensitive to the arrangement and context of individual works when exhibited together, Flavin’s early conception of whole-room ‘installation’ altered the course of art-making in the 1960’s.

Dan Flavin, the diagonal of May 25, 1963 (to Robert Rosenblum) [artsjournal]


Dan Flavin, a primary picture, 1964 [Telegraph uk]