Munich, Germany - Four years after opening, the Pinakothek der Moderne is holding its most major exhibition to date in collaboration with the New York Dia Art Foundation.  It is dedicated to Dan Flavin (1933-1996), the American artist who pioneered the exploration of completely new terrain in art.  From 1963 onwards, Dan Flavin devoted his work exclusively to the application of fluorescent light.

The exhibition features the entire spectrum of his life’s work, from room-capturing light installations to the small sculptural pieces.   After London and Paris the exhibition has now reached its final destination in Munich where the most comprehensive presentation of all is to be held.  The 140-metre-long axis of the Pinakothek der Moderne will be given over to showing more than 20 of the ›monuments‹ for V. Tatlin«. They contrast sharply with the intimate nature of his assembled icons (1961-63) – now brought together in their entirety for the first time – which marked Flavin’s fascinating breakthrough into the art world.

Flavin’s intensive and early attachment to Munich is highlighted in the presentation of an installation from 1968 that extends over three rooms and was arranged by the artist himself in what was then the Galerie Friedrich in the Maximilianstraße.  In holding this exhibition, which covers more than half the upper floor of the museum, the Pinakothek der Moderne honours an outstanding artist of the 20th century.  The retrospective is to be seen within the context of a collection through which the museum has come to be recognized worldwide as one of the most important venues for encountering American Minimal Art. 

We would like to thank the Philip Morris GmbH | Kunstförderung for their generous support of the exhibition.

Curators: Tiffany Bell, New York; Michael Govan, Los Angeles; Corinna Thierolf, Munich

Visit Pinakothek der Moderne at : www.pinakothek-der-moderne.de