‘It is what it is.’ Dan Flavin’s iconic light fittings in the UK's Ikon Gallery

APPOLLO MAGAZINE
By Fatema Ahmed

Installation view of 'It is what it is, and it ain't nothing else'. Photo by Stuart Whipps, courtesy of Ikon. © 2016 Stephen Flavin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

And now, the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham is presenting an exhibition called ‘It is what it is and it ain’t nothing else’. Despite the blunt title, taken from a forthright statement by Flavin himself, the gallery notes carefully explain that this is ‘not a didactic museum show, but rather an exercise of matching a judicious selection of Flavin’s work with the variety of interiors that Ikon Gallery has to offer’. It’s an unnecessarily defensive note to strike for an exhibition where the bold installation more than lives up to the show’s title. Dan Flavin once said: ‘Everything is clearly, openly, plainly delivered. There is no overwhelming spirituality you are supposed to come into contact with.’ [More]