Dan Flavin, London

About

Dan Flavin is among the most important of the Minimalist artists to emerge from the US in the 1970s. His light sculptures, executed in industrially-produced fluorescent tubes, are among the most instantly recognisable works of post-war contemporary art and a huge influence upon a generation of artists who have sought to work with light and form. This exceptional display features some of Flavin's extensive series of ‘monuments’ dedicated to the Russian constructivist artist Vladimir Tatlin.

The title of the series refers to Tatlin’s most famous unrealised project, the Monument to the Third International, designed in 1919–20. This 400m double-helix tower was intended to dwarf the Eiffel Tower and stand as the defining symbol of constructivist modernity. Flavin’s monuments are among his most austere works, composed only of cool white fluorescent tubes and avoiding his characteristically exuberant use of colour. He also restricted himself to rectilinear, symmetrical arrangements, without the horizontal and diagonal elements included elsewhere.