Dan Flavin in the Chiesa Rossa, Milan
“Untitled”, installed at the church of Santa Maria Annunciata in Chiesa Rossa, Milan, is the last artwork Dan Flavin did in his life. The artist designed it two days before his death, which occurred on November, 29th ,1996. The work was carried on and installed the year after with the help of Dia Art Foundation (New York) and the Fondazione Prada, which had commissioned the work. It is a permanent installation, made of neon tubes (blue for the nave, red for the transept, gold for the apse). It closes the career of the artist who, from the very beginning, has been interested in the relationship between his art and architectural context.
Dan Flavin has always declared his opposition to any symbolic or spiritual interpretation of his work, but it is difficult not to see in his art a deep intertwining between transcendence and abstraction, closer to Piet Mondrian than to his colleagues from minimal art such as Sol Lewitt or Donald Judd.
July 14, 2015
