untitled (for Robert, with fond regards) 2
1977

By the mid-1970s, Dan Flavin was working on a larger scale, which heightened the luminosity of his sculptures. Untitled (for Robert, with fond regards) is one of Flavin’s most elaborate corner grid configurations from this period. This 8-by-8-foot example was fabricated in an edition of three (a group of 4-by-4-foot versions have also been made). Flavin described the notable characteristics of the work, citing its “rich contrast, front over rear, and an optical interplay, pink on yellow backgrounded by the red, all modified by reflected color mixes and shadows of the grid structure itself.” “As an ensemble,” he remarked, “this intense fluorescent light use/abuse seems to be rare in my production.” As is common in Flavin’s practice, the work is dedicated to a friend: Robert Skolnick, the artist’s former long-time assistant, who had previously been an art handler at the Whitney.