Dia, the Collection in Beacon

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Dia Beacon Riggio Galleries, Dia Art Foundation's new museum, presents one of the world's most distinguished collections of contemporary art. The museum, which opened in May 2003, occupies a 300,000-square-foot former industrial building situated on the banks of the Hudson River in Beacon, New York. Here Dia presents a vast range of artworks by a focused group of some of the most significant artists of the last half century, including Bernd and Hilda Becher, Joseph Beuys, louise Bourgeois, John Chamberlain, Hanne Darboven, Waler De Maria, Dan Flavin, Michael Heizer, Robert irwin, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Imi Knoebel, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, Bruce Nauman, Blinky Palermo, Gerhard Richter, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner, and Robert Whitman.

This volume, published to celebrate the opening of Dia: Beacon, begins with a statement by Dia's chairman and patron Leonard Riggio. The introduction by Dia's director, Michael Govan, describes the creation of this unique museum in the context of Dia's ambitious artistic mission. Dia curator Lynne Cooke examines the formation of the collection and the conceptual framework from within which Dia's program of commissioning, collecting, and presenting art from the 1960s onward evolved. In addition, short critical texts and vibrant photography, concise biographies and bibliographies highlight each artist represented at Dia: Beacon.