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random notes on flavin at nga
Late last week I posted an excerpt from my Dan Flavin review (scroll down to the image). And smart readers know how to get their eyes on a full copy. Today I wanted to toss in some random thoughts...
I mentioned in my review that Flavin is installed on carpet. It's really awful. Buzz is that the show's curators know it, aren't happy about it, but couldn't put down wood floors because the structural floors in the I.M. Pei building are uneven. (The wood floor would crack.) Look for the NGA to do some significant floor work in the East Building sometime in the next few years; I also mentioned that some of the rooms are too densely installed. Flavins bleed into Flavins, thus diluting some of their power;
My favorite mix of installation and artwork is Flavin's monument for those who have been killed in ambush... When I blog I try not to 'give away' parts of shows, so I'll just leave it at that; If you're art-smart enough to be reading MAN, you'll love one of the last rooms of the exhibit. In it the curators have assembled Flavin work that Flavinizes other artists. Go with a friend and see who can nail all the references;
Dear National Gallery: Benches!!;
The curators of the Smithson show in LA and the Flavin show in DC independently made the same decision: My artist made site-specific works. Nothing I can do in my show can capture those works because they're so site-specific. So I'm not going to show them. Even as I type that, it sounds like it should be a mistake. But it's not. Both teams of curators made the right choice. Photographs of Spiral Jetty or Amarillo Ramp would look cheesy when surrounded by Smithson's other work. Same with Flavin's site-specific work;
Speaking of installation... why is there still a Tony Smith and Gerhard Richter installed on the mezzanine? They weren't made to be lit by green light.
Why do the Flavins in the catalog look so good? Most of the works shown in the catalog were installed one at a time in Dia's building in Chelsea, then photographed, then taken down. Smart.