Dan Flavin

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Light installation by Dan Flavins in the Gelsenkirchen Science Park ( Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf )

Dan Flavin (actually Daniel Nicholas Flavin * 1. April 1933 in Jamaica, Queens , New York City ; † 29. November 1996 in Riverhead , New York, USA) was an artist of minimalism , in particular due to its light installations world-wide fame .

Life

Flavin attended from 1947 to 1952 the "Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception" and the "Seminary" in Brooklyn , New York City. After graduating from high school there, Flavin began training as an aviation weather meteorologist in 1953; in this area he worked for the US Air Force at the headquarters of the Fifth Force in Osan-Ni , Korea . From 1954 to 1955 he participated in the "University of Maryland Adult Extension Program" in Korea.

Already artistically gifted as a child, Flavin studied art and art history at the New School for Social Research in 1956 and from 1957 to 1959 at Columbia University in New York and took courses at the "Hans Hoffman School of Fine Arts". He then worked for a short time at various New York museums.

In 1961, Flavin presented installations that included electric light for the first time. He specialized in working with fluorescent tubes and from 1963 only showed light art, often in thematic series that were based on the aspect of spatial perception and in many cases were dedicated to specific people.

The peculiarity of Flavin's art made the viewer himself an art, as the light changed the color of his skin and his clothes. In 1963 it had its breakthrough thanks to the May 25 diagonal . In 1964 he presented his fluorescent tubes for the first time in an exhibition and began work on Monument to V. Tatlin , a multi-part series made of white tubes. In the same year his son Stephen was born after he had married Sonja Severdija in 1961 .

In the years that followed, Flavin continued to develop his style and took part in numerous exhibitions, such as the 4th documenta in 1968 and documenta 6 in 1977 in Kassel .

He received the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture and was able to install a permanent installation in Bridgehampton in 1983 .

In private life, after separating from his first wife (1979), he developed diabetes and married the American artist Tracy Harris in 1992 . Flavin died in Riverhead, New York in 1996. Three of his works of art were only executed after his death. B. untitled (for Janet Chamberlain) .

Works (selection)

  • Monument on Mrs. Reppien's Survival , fluorescent tubes, 11 × 301 cm; 1966.
  • untitled (for Janet Chamberlain) . In 1995, Dan Flavin was involved in the planning of an extension to the Hypo Tower in Munich, the so-called Hypo Haus Ost. The work was then implemented posthumously in 1998. Colorful fluorescent tubes are attached to the underside of a staircase, with each floor having its own color.

Public collections

Exhibitions (selection)

literature

Web links

Commons : Dan Flavin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Diagonal of May 25 ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nga.gov
  2. ↑ Monument to V. Tatlin ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nga.gov
  3. ↑ Dan Flavin.Zeichnen, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, side of the museum exhibition
  4. ^ Lenbachhaus - Dan Flavin. January 28, 2015, accessed April 29, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Flavin, Dan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flavin, Daniel Nicholas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Jamaica , New York City , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1996
Place of death Riverhead , New York , United States