Special Sub-Topic: Dan Flavin Click Here To Play: Dan Flavin

Dan Flavin was born in New York in 1933. Before he became an artist, what did he do for a living?

Served in the military. Flavin served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s. Upon his return home, he attended the New School for Social Research, and Columbia University.

In 1961, Dan held his first solo art show. Where was it?

The Judson Gallery, New York City. Judson Memorial Church has sponsored the Judson Gallery since the 1950s. Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, and Red Grooms, among other contemporary artists, also opened shows there.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Flavin produced works of what nature?

Paintings. Flavin switched to light-based pieces in the early 1960s. The transition between the two forms can be seen in the fact that his first several light pieces are shaped like painting frames, melding the form and color of a painting into one.

With what art movement was Flavin most often associated?

Minimalism. The Minimalist school began in the 1960s. Artists created pieces using only the simplest essentials. Straight lines, blocks of color and clean, geometric structures were common.

The year 1964 proved momentous for Flavin. Which of the following was *not* an honor he earned that year?

Installed a display in the entranceway of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC. As if Dan's plate were not full enough in 1964, he also began work on a series of pieces in memory of Russian architect and painter Vladimir Tatlin. Many of them resembled streamlined buildings. Flavin would continue to produce the salutary pieces for the better part of thirty years.

In which museum did Flavin's exhibition, "Fluorescent Light, Etc., from Dan Flavin," open in 1969?

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. This show was a retrospective. Flavin's first art show outside the United States was held in 1966, at the Galerie Rudolf Zwirner in Cologne, Germany.

What element of Flavin's style did he first use in pieces in 1972?

Circular lights. This marked a change from Flavin previous mode of angular lines. One of his 1972 creations was named 'Untitled (to a Man, George McGovern).' Flavin called several works 'Untitled,' followed in parenthesis by...a title. Even in naming things, Dan could turn the normal into something different.

For what section of New York's Grand Central Station did Flavin create an installation, in 1977?

The train platforms. This was a rare non-museum setting. Grand Central Station is the hub of the Metro North transit system.

Flavin passed away in 1996, after a struggle with what condition?

Diabetes. Flavin was 63. Among the authors who penned biographies of him were Angela Vettese and Jeffrey Weiss.

In which of these cities is there a museum dedicated to Flavin's work?

Bridgehampton, NY. The facility on eastern Long Island has some of Flavin's works installed directly in the stairwells. The site is open from May to October.