Cattedrali d'Arte.

Cattedrali d'Arte Dan Flavin (New York, 1933-1996) was one of the leading exponents of Minimal Art, together with Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Robert Morris and Carl Andre. In 1962 Flavin exhibited the results of his first artistic experiments with electric light: square boxes with their fronts painted in monochrome and electric light bulbs round the edges that he described as "icons".

In 1963 he rejected all forms of painting in favour of simple, plain light fittings using mass-produced neon tubes, which were the only materials he used until his death. Through the systematic application of the limited vocabulary of the light fittings and the colours and sizes of the tubes on sale (there were nine possible colours: blue, green, pink, red, yellow and four variations of white, in four basic lengths, from half a metre to two and a half metres), Flavin developed an art form having a practically unlimited sculptural potential.

One of his greatest interests was in architecture, especially the relationship between his art and its architectural setting. The artist's last work, specifically designed for the church of Santa Maria in Chiesa Rossa in Milan, was completed by Flavin just two days before his death in 1996. Having never accepted any symbolic or spiritual interpretations of his work, Flavin ended his career with an installation constructed inside a church, which effectively terminated the cycle beginning with the "icons". In this the transcendental aspirations of art contrast in measured equilibrium with the everyday routine represented by the neon tubes: "Flavin's art neither rejects nor summons faith since the question of God is never raised.
For art is matter and is, therefore, no proof of anything spiritual. Nor is it proof against". (Michael Govan)