Dan FLAVIN untitled 1975 Green fluorescent light – 488 cm / 16 feet long on the diagonal ©2011 Stephen Flavin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Dan FLAVIN “four red horizontals (to Sonja)” 1963 Red fluorescent light – 22 x 243,8 cm / 8 3/4 inches x 96 inches ©2011 Stephen Flavin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
14th January – 3rd March 2012
Galerie Perrotin presents Dan Flavin «An Installation», in collaboration with L&M Arts.
Dan Flavin started making three-dimensional monochromes with mounted or barred fluorescent tubes or light bulbs in 1961 that he referred to as «Icons», even though he contested any mystical or religious reference in his approach.
In a constant dialogue with painting, sculpture and architecture, he inaugurated in 1963 the work «the diagonal of May 25, 1963 (to Constantin Brancusi),» an homage to «Endless Column,» comprised of a standard gold fluorescent tube, which from then on, became his only medium. His installations of infinite combinations transcend Duchampien gestures, radical in essence and minimal in form. Though the artist refused all ecstatic interpretation of his work, he created a sensorial and physical experience with colour and light having transformed into matter, introducing the presence of the immaterial.
The exhibition brings together 8 works starting in 1963 («four red horizontals (to Sonja),» 1963 ; «white around a corner,» 1965 ; «’monument’ for V. Tatlin,» 1967 ; «untitled,» 1975 ; «untitled (to Ksenija),» 1985 ; «untitled (to Don Judd, colorist) 9,» 1987 ; «untitled (to Charlotte),» 1987 ; «untitled (for John Heartfield) 3a,» 1990) and 3 preparatory drawings for the installations entitled «For the citizens of the Republic of France on the 200th anniversary of their revolution,» 1989.
