Artists

Dan Flavin, Dan Flavin

Press release

Curated by: Josef Helfenstein, Olga Osadtschy

American artist Dan Flavin (1933–1996) was a pioneer of Minimal Art. He rose to fame in the 1960s with his work with industrially manufactured fluorescent tubes, inventing a new art form and securing his place in art history. The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel focuses on his works that are dedicated to other artists or make reference to certain events.

Back in 1963 Dan Flavin mounted a single, industrial fluorescent light tube at a 45-degree angle to the wall of his studio declaring it art; the act was radical, and it still is. Indeed, it was owing to this action that standard commercial products would be introduced into art: The nascent Minimal Art of the era emphasised seriality, reduction and matter-of-factness. Somewhat ironically, while the autodidact Flavin never himself sought membership to this movement in art, he would, and quite literally, go on to become one of its most illustrious exponents.

The curators of this major special exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel examine these narrative strategies by means of works and series drawn from Flavin's oeuvre and invite visitors to take a sensory exploration of his unique body of work.