American artist Dan Flavin (1933–1996) was a pioneer of Minimal Art. He rose to fame in the 1960s through his work with industrially manufactured fluorescent tubes, inventing a new art form that liberated color from the two-dimensionality of painting.
Showcasing fifty-eight works, some of which have never been on view in Switzerland, the exhibition presents a thematically as well as chronologically organized survey of Flavin’s singular œuvre.
The prevalent perception of Flavin’s light works has, to date, largely centred on their minimalist, industrial aspect, and thus on the inherent simplicity of their beauty. The exhibition, by contrast, places emphasis on looking at Flavin’s oeuvre in a less familiar setting and focuses on his works that are dedicated to other artists or make reference to certain events, such as wartime atrocities or police violence. It examines these narrative strategies by means of works and series drawn from Flavin's oeuvre and invites visitors to take a sensory exploration of his unique body of work.
Dan Flavin, Untitled (to Barnett Newman) one, 1971
