Dan Flavin, “untitled (to Barry, Mike, Chuck and Leonard),” pink and yellow light fixtures, 1972-75 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Paula Cooper Gallery
534 West 21st St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Tuesday – Saturday through October 30
Admission: free
212-255-1105
www.paulacoopergallery.com
There’s virtually never a time when a fluorescent light sculpture by Queens-born artist Dan Flavin isn’t shining somewhere in New York City — and that doesn’t include the stairway that is always aglow at the old Dia Art Foundation on West 22nd St. A fraternal twin, Flavin served in the Air Force and was a guard at MoMA and the American Museum of Natural History before holding his first solo light exhibit, at the Kaymar Gallery in 1964. For the next thirty-plus years, Flavin became famous putting together fluorescent bulbs of varying shapes and lengths into architectural sculptures that broke through spatial planes in fascinating ways. One of his key pieces, “untitled (to Barry, Mike, Chuck and Leonard),” will be on view through Saturday at Paula Cooper’s West 21st St. gallery, and it’s worth a special visit. The double-sided installation forms an eight-foot-by-eight-foot corridor that can be approached from two directions, one giving off a pink glow, the other yellow, allowing people to walk inside and meet at the center, where the vertical lights resemble a different kind of prison cell. It’s an intoxicating experience as well as a lot of fun. Also on display are several smaller works including a crosslike corner piece in another room.