'dan flavin: grids' floods NYC's zwirner gallery with fluorescent color

a glowing retrospective of dan flavin’s grids

Dan Flavin: Grids is on view at David Zwirner Gallery in New York, bringing renewed focus to a body of work by Dan Flavin that engages space through light with confidence and openness.

The exhibition gathers several grid installations first developed in 1976, presented here through careful re-creations of historic works. Installed directly into corners, the luminous sculptures become a fixed part of the gallery as walls, ceilings, and floors receive light as an active condition. The atmosphere of each room shifts, all while remaining unified by the straightforward presence of the simple fluorescent fixtures.

Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light shapes corners as active architectural elements | image © designboom

re-created works illuminate david zwirner gallery

From Dan Flavin’s earliest experiments with fluorescent lamps in the early 1960s, light served as a practical tool for shaping space. Over time, this approach grew more assured, and the grids reflect that maturity. Their geometry feels steady and deliberate, while color introduces warmth and variation that responds to the proportions of each room.

As curator Michael Govan notes, the grids stand among the most concentrated works the artist produced. Each piece balances vertical lamps facing inward with horizontal lamps facing outward. Color travels across surfaces through reflection, a condition which softens the edges of the gallery and invites exploration between its rooms.

the Grids establish clear geometry and flood each room with a wash of color | image © designboom

colorful grids in dialogue with one another

The first of Dan Flavin’s grids on view, ‘untitled (for Mary Ann and Hal with fondest regards) 1 and 2’ (1976), offer a clear entry point. Each eight-foot square combines pink and green lamps arranged in opposing directions. Installed diagonally across from one another, the works establish an easy rhythm between corners, encouraging visitors to notice how light behaves differently as distance and angle shift.

Grids dedicated to Leo Castelli continue this dialogue. In ‘untitled (for you, Leo, in long respect and affection) 1 and 2’ from 1977, Flavin introduces yellow and blue alongside green and pink, allowing color interactions to feel more relaxed and expansive. Smaller four-foot versions, intended to be suspended across corners, suggest an architectural element that floats within the room, extending light into shared space.

Dan Flavin: Grids concludes with the re-creation of ‘untitled (in honor of Leo at the 30th anniversary of his gallery),’ first shown in 1987. Spanning twenty-four feet across a corner, the joined editions stretch the room laterally, offering a generous sense of scale.