Tunnel of Love, 2014

On 12 February we lost Dan Graham, the contemporary artist who brought art – and sculpture in particular – closest to the qualities, challenges, findings, and critical episodes of modern architecture. He did this by means of a multifaceted career in which his own artistic work spilled into numerous texts, and thanks to him, so many of us who have germinated intellectually and professionally around art opened our eyes and minds to the built world of buildings and cities. Dan showed us fertile intersections between art and architecture, beyond their historical bonds. He also paid a lot of attention to hybrid practices of popular cultures and subcultures, such as rock and roll, television, and cartoons. An avid reader and above all a tireless traveler through different continents, to which he brought not only his work but also his curiosity and his great capacity to absorb information, Graham spoke of architecture with genuine authority, with knowledge acquired directly from buildings, not only indirectly through books. He always saw himself as an architecture enthusiast: the collection of architecture books in his studio was exquisite even though not very extensive...
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