Dan Flavin - Contemporary Art Part I New York Thursday, May 13, 2010 | Phillips

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  • Provenance


    Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

  • Exhibited


    New York, Gering & López Gallery, Dan Flavin/Josef Albers, May 4 – June 14, 2008 (another example exhibited)

  • Literature


    T. Bell and M. Govan, Dan Flavin: The Complete Lights 1961-1996, New York, 2004, p. 403, pl. 659 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay


    Composed of four horizontal blue fluorescent lights perched atop a towering pink fluorescent light Untitled (to Jörg Schellmann), 1994 is a delicate example of Dan Falvin’s monumental body of work. Installed along a 45 degree corner wall the elongated pink florescent light illuminates the rear of the work creating a soft feminine pink glow which runs up the wall where it meets with the cool glow of the blue fluorescent light and melts into a purple haze. The amalgamation of the feminine pink glow with the masculine blue hue crates an ethereal juxtaposition of the feminine qualities of light against the masculinity of the physical metal light fixtures.
     
    The choice of florescent light as a medium satisfied certain art-historical demands of the period. For one, the direct use of electrical light as an artistic medium responded to the desire for innovative form. Furthermore, the commercial availability and mundane familiarity of the fluorescent light allowed it to be subversive when placed in the context of more traditional painting and sculpture…although Flavin’s art is easily identifiable as by Flavin, it rejects the individualized, hand-marked character of gestural painting and sculpture.
    T. Bell, “Fluorescent Lights as Art,” Dan Flavin: The Complete Lights, 1961- 1996, pp. 109-110

  • Artist Biography

    Dan Flavin

    American • 1933 - 1996

    Dan Flavin employed commercially-sold fluorescent light tubes in order to produce what he liked to call "situations" or installations. His minimalist approach transcended simplicity through his use of neon colors and thoughtful compositions. With straight-edged light beams, Flavin would often create dynamic arrangements reminiscent of Fred Sandback's work with yarn.

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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTION

118

Untitled (to Jörg Schellmann)

1994

Blue and pink fluorescent lights.

96 x 24 x 7 7/8 in. (244 x 61 x 20 cm).
This work is from an edition of five, of which only three were fabricated and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

Estimate
$250,000 - 350,000 

Sold for $266,500

Contemporary Art Part I

13 May 2010
New York