A special holiday installation, Untitled, by quintessential American minimalist sculptor Dan Flavin, is now on view in the windows and inside the Calvin Klein Collection Madison Avenue flagship store in New York. The inspiring work was originally commissioned by Calvin Klein himself, conceived on site in the store in 1996, and unveiled the month after Flavin’s death. The installation utilizes red and daylight white lamps in varying configurations, and occupies the large storefront windows, the ground floor and lower level, engaging viewers for the first time since its initial execution.
Flavin’s work is associated with both Minimalism and Conceptual Art. The artist was known for incorporating fluorescent lamps to create sculptures and installations that called attention to the construction of the spaces they inhabited, and thus redefined the way in which the individual experienced them.
1996
Over the course of his career, Flavin created a number of site-specific pieces that responded directly to the architecture of a given space. In addition to the work created for the Calvin Klein Collection flagship, other notable site-specific installations include Grand Central Terminal, New York (1976); The Menil Collection, Houston (1996); the Chiesa di Santa Maria Annunciata in Chiesa Rossa, Milan (1996); and The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas (installed posthumously in 2000).
