DAN FLAVIN IN UPPER BAVARIA

 Dan Flavin (1933 - 1996 New York) is one of the most important representatives of Minimal Art. One approach of this art movement lies in the radical reduction of pictorial means to simple basic forms. These are produced according to industrial standards, eliminating all handwritten design features and taking into account the respective material properties. The works refer to the space and challenge the perception of the viewer, who is literally immersed in the artistic work. As the world's most important light artist today, Flavin has worked exclusively with the commercially available lengths and standard colors of fluorescent tubes since 1963. In 2014, essential stations of his work can be seen at four locations in Upper Bavaria.

The ROYAL CLASS II, an exhibition of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Herrenchiemsee Castle is showing outstanding contemporary art in the unfinished north wing of the palace commissioned by King Ludwig II until 28.09.2014. Alongside Andy Warhol, John Chamberlain, Cy Twombly, Willem de Kooning, Georg Baselitz, Arnulf Rainer, Imi Knoebel, Wolfgang Laib and Fabienne Verdier, two rooms are dedicated to Dan Flavin, who already enjoyed great popularity as part of the 2013 Königsklasse, including his room-filling installation Untitled (blue and red fluorecent light) from 1970 and several works from the allusive series ‛monument' for V. Tatlin.

In the Pinakothek of Modern Art in Munich a major work by Dan Flavin, Untitled (to you, Heiner, with admiration and affection), (1974) is on view in the long term. The installation permeates the 10 x 20 meter room, bathing it in garish green light. The work, dedicated to the companion Heiner Friedrich, stands in a sequence of rooms with sculptures by John Chamberlain, Fred Sandback, and Flavin's 'monument' for V. Tatlin, whose white light shines through the green of the room with the barrier in a flawless manner.

One of Flavin's largest light works, Untitled (to Ksenija), will be on view through September 7, 2014 at the Art building of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus Munich shown. Flavin developed this expansive installation two years before his death for the opening of the Kunstbau designed by the architect Uwe Kiessler in 1994. The art patrons Heiner and Philippa Friedrich donated this outstanding work to the Lenbachhaus in memory of their parents with the stipulation that it be shown at regular intervals. In it, Flavin takes up the architectural conditions and lends the characteristic curvature of the approximately 110-meter-long subterranean space above the Königsplatz subway station an unexpected dynamism. The coloured light creates intense colour reflections on the walls, the floor, the architectural supports and all other fixtures in the space, creating an inseparable connection. The Lenbachhaus also has a permanent outdoor installation, also created by Dan Flavin in 1994, consisting of 10 illuminated steles between the Kunstbau and the main entrance.

Following the opening of Untitled (to Ksenija) at Kunstbau on 25 July 2014, a press tour took place in DASMAXIMUM ArtGegenwart to Traunreut, which permanently presents a total of 21 works by Dan Flavin in its own halls. The museum is a foundation of Heiner Friedrich and makes with the four German and four American artists Georg Baselitz, John Chamberlain, Walter De Maria, Dan Flavin, Imi Knoebel, Uwe Lausen, Andy Warhol and Maria Zerres on more than 3000 m² essential positions of art after 1960 vivid. With the nine European Couples by Dan Flavin, DASMAXIMUM shows one of his first major works in its entirety, as well as an early six-part series from 1963/64 and a late one from 1995.