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ART & DESIGN / DAN FLAVIN - IT IS WHAT IT IS
While skeptics dug deep to find profounder meaning in his work, Flavin’s philosophy was grounded in a peculiar romanticised idea of wanting his art to be new, to be overwhelming in perception, and to achieve this in the simplest and most direct manner. He urged visitors to come, look and leave, and discouraged patrons from lingering, contemplating, meditating and inventing weighty connotations that did not exist. “(My work) is what it is,” the artist once said, “and it ain’t anything else.” Some have questioned whether Flavin even was an artist, or his work even art. Taking fluorescent tubes and lining them up on the floor or wall may not constitute art for many. Although, works that were priced at $1000 during his first solo exhibition of luminescent tubes at the Green Gallery in 1964, today command more than $2 million. All original pieces are also accompanied by a signed certificate, which institutes authenticity of the work. So while skeptics
can continue to whine about the banality of his ‘situations,’ aficionados applaud and appreciate how Flavin weds medium, message and space; where light becomes the form that relates art in diffusing spatial parameters. He remains one of the simplest yet irreducible, austere yet motley, and an astutely visual modern artist. His work is best described in his own words, “One might not think of light as a matter of fact, but I do. And it is, as I said, as plain and open and direct an art as you will ever find.” (Dan Flavin, 1987)
David Zwirner gallery, New York/London, represents the Dan Flavin Estate. They have held multiple exhibitions in the past and will soon be inaugurating the next show, Dan Flavin: Corners, Barriers, and Corridors, September 10 - October 24, 2015. Besides his iconic artworks pertaining to architectural spaces of corners, barriers and corridors, other works that exemplify the Flavin’s lesser-known use of
Top left untitled (in honour of Harold Joachim) 3, 1977 Top right untitled, 1996. Centre a primary picture, 1964. Bottom right Flavin installing fluorescent light, etc from dan flavin National Gallery of Canada, Ottowa, 1969
circular fluorescent bulbs will also be included. All images © 2015 Stephen Flavin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
www.davidzwirner.com