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Biography

Dan Flavin (b. 1933, New York City, d. 1996, Riberheard, NY) is known for his sculptures and installations made of light that use commercially available fluorescent fixtures. In 1961 he had his first solo exhibition at the Judson Gallery, New York. Later that year he began experimenting with electric light in a series of works called “icons,” which led him to his first work made solely of fluorescent light, the diagonal of May 25, 1963 (to Constantin Brancusi) (1963). Major exhibitions of Flavin’s work include those at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1967); the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1969); and the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden (1989). In 2004 the Dia Art Foundation organized a traveling retrospective in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. In 1983 Dia opened the Dan Flavin Art Institute, a permanent exhibition designed by the artist in a former firehouse and Baptist church in Bridgehampton, New York. Flavin’s work is in the collection of The Kunsthalle Basel; the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and many major US institutions. 

Selected Works

Selected Works Thumbnails
Dan Flavin Untitled (monument for V. Tatlin), 1967 cool white fluorescent light ​96 x 24 x 4 1/4 in. (243.8 x 61 x 10.8 cm)

Dan Flavin
Untitled (monument for V. Tatlin), 1967
cool white fluorescent light
96 x 24 x 4 1/4 in. (243.8 x 61 x 10.8 cm)

Dan Flavin Untitled, 1969 two 48-inch blue, two 24-inch pink, one 24-inch yellow lights and fixtures 96 inches across the corner, (244 cm across the corner) Edition of 5

Dan Flavin
Untitled, 1969
two 48-inch blue, two 24-inch pink, one 24-inch yellow lights and fixtures 96 inches across the corner, (244 cm across the corner)
Edition of 5

Dan Flavin untitled (to S.A., Lovingly), 1987 blue and red fluorescent lights and fixtures 10 48-inch lights, 48 x 48 x 7 in. (121.9 x 121.9 x 17.8 cm)

Dan Flavin
untitled (to S.A., Lovingly), 1987
blue and red fluorescent lights and fixtures
10 48-inch lights, 48 x 48 x 7 in. (121.9 x 121.9 x 17.8 cm)

Dan Flavin Untitled (monument for V. Tatlin), 1967 cool white fluorescent light ​96 x 24 x 4 1/4 in. (243.8 x 61 x 10.8 cm)

Dan Flavin
Untitled (monument for V. Tatlin), 1967
cool white fluorescent light
96 x 24 x 4 1/4 in. (243.8 x 61 x 10.8 cm)

Dan Flavin Untitled, 1969 two 48-inch blue, two 24-inch pink, one 24-inch yellow lights and fixtures 96 inches across the corner, (244 cm across the corner) Edition of 5

Dan Flavin
Untitled, 1969
two 48-inch blue, two 24-inch pink, one 24-inch yellow lights and fixtures 96 inches across the corner, (244 cm across the corner)
Edition of 5

Dan Flavin untitled (to S.A., Lovingly), 1987 blue and red fluorescent lights and fixtures 10 48-inch lights, 48 x 48 x 7 in. (121.9 x 121.9 x 17.8 cm)

Dan Flavin
untitled (to S.A., Lovingly), 1987
blue and red fluorescent lights and fixtures
10 48-inch lights, 48 x 48 x 7 in. (121.9 x 121.9 x 17.8 cm)