Dan Flavin: icons

Prior to his breakthrough into the medium of fluorescent light, Dan Flavin completed a series of eight works known as “icons” between 1961 and 1964. Each icon occupies a box-like construction with a painted surface and attached light fixtures, possessing a “hierarchical relationship of electric light over, under, against and with a square-fronted structure of paint ‘light.’”1 While grappling with this relationship, Flavin experienced a genesis moment and constructed his first sculpture made entirely of fluorescent light: the diagonal of May 25, 1963 (to Constantin Brancusi). This work opened the door to a completely new medium that would engage the artist for the rest of his career. As such, the icons series bridges the mediums of painting and sculpture, linking the work that Flavin made early in his career to the sculptures in light for which he is remembered.