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Lot Essay
‘The radiant tube and the shadow cast by its pan seemed ironic enough to hold on alone. There was no need to compose this lamp in place; it implanted itself directly, dynamically, dramatically in my workroom wall – a buoyant and relentless gaseous image which, through brilliance, betrayed its physical presence into approximate invisibility.’ – Dan Flavin
Composed of four radiant lights in pink, green, blue, and red, Dan Flavin’s Untitled (To Jean-Christophe) is a fluorescent tribute dedicated to the son of his gallerist, Leo Castelli. Executed in 1970, Untitled is the fifth in an edition of five, one of which is held in the collection of the Museum Folkwang in Essen. Flavin referred to his light sculptures as ‘situations’, and for these he purposefully selected a mass-produced product in order to avoid subjective expression, aligning his practice with the bourgeoning Conceptual and Minimalist art movements. Unlike his contemporaries, however, Flavin’s dedications, to a constellation of friends, professional acquaintances, and historic figures, infuse his work with autobiography and warmth. The great mystery and paradox of Flavin’s practice is how, writes art historian Anne Wagner, ‘mundane materiality can achieve the limitless, perhaps even approach the sublime’ (A. Wagner, Flavin’s Limited Light’, Dan Flavin: New Light, National Gallery of Art, 2000, p. 110). These are architectural works, and to look at a Flavin is to be transformed, owing to the way the light washes over the viewer and inundates the exhibition space. Flavin wrote, ‘Regard the light and you are fascinated – inhibited from grasping its limits at each end’ (D. Flavin, ‘…in daylight or cool white: an autobiographical sketch’, Dan Flavin: The Architecture of Light, exh cat., Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, 2000, p. 58). Indeed, Untitled is the ultimate expression of infinity, a representation of boundless, blended light.
Composed of four radiant lights in pink, green, blue, and red, Dan Flavin’s Untitled (To Jean-Christophe) is a fluorescent tribute dedicated to the son of his gallerist, Leo Castelli. Executed in 1970, Untitled is the fifth in an edition of five, one of which is held in the collection of the Museum Folkwang in Essen. Flavin referred to his light sculptures as ‘situations’, and for these he purposefully selected a mass-produced product in order to avoid subjective expression, aligning his practice with the bourgeoning Conceptual and Minimalist art movements. Unlike his contemporaries, however, Flavin’s dedications, to a constellation of friends, professional acquaintances, and historic figures, infuse his work with autobiography and warmth. The great mystery and paradox of Flavin’s practice is how, writes art historian Anne Wagner, ‘mundane materiality can achieve the limitless, perhaps even approach the sublime’ (A. Wagner, Flavin’s Limited Light’, Dan Flavin: New Light, National Gallery of Art, 2000, p. 110). These are architectural works, and to look at a Flavin is to be transformed, owing to the way the light washes over the viewer and inundates the exhibition space. Flavin wrote, ‘Regard the light and you are fascinated – inhibited from grasping its limits at each end’ (D. Flavin, ‘…in daylight or cool white: an autobiographical sketch’, Dan Flavin: The Architecture of Light, exh cat., Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, 2000, p. 58). Indeed, Untitled is the ultimate expression of infinity, a representation of boundless, blended light.