Dan Flavin: Dedications in Lights

In 1963 the American artist Dan Flavin – who until then was mostly painting Abstract Expressionist canvases and making mixed-media collages – bought a fluorescent light tube and mounted it on his studio wall at a 45-degree angle. From then on, much of Flavin’s art consisted of similarly ‘readymade’ light installations, 58 of which are being exhibited at the Kunstmuseum in Basel (2 March–18 August). These ‘situations’, as the artist preferred to call them, consist of industrial light tubes arranged in various patterns. Flavin is frequently regarded as a minimalist – a label he disliked – but the Kunstmuseum’s show aims to go beyond the conceptual purity of his art and explore the contexts to which Flavin often gestured in the titles of his works, many of which refer to real events or other artists. Find out more from the Kunstmuseum Basel’s website.

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untitled (to Barnett Newman) one (1971), Dan Flavin. Carré d’Art-Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes. Photo: courtesy David Zwirner Gallery; © Stephen Flavin/2024, ProLitteris, Zurich

Untitled. In memory of Urs Graf (1975), Dan Flavin. Kunstmuseum Basel. Photo: Mark Niedermann; © Stephen Flavin/2024, ProLitteris, Zurich

a primary picture (1964), Dan Flavin. The Dan Flavin Estate, courtesy David Zwirner. Photo: courtesy David Zwirner Gallery; © Stephen Flavin/2024, ProLitteris, Zurich