Sculptor, performance and conceptual artist Chris Burden, died from cancer at the age of 69 at home in Topanga Canyon, California according to his art dealer, Larry Gagosian.

The artist, who died Sunday morning was diagnosed with malignant melanoma 18 months ago and it is only his family and close friends knew.  The artist's friend, art curator Paul Schimmel, who in 1988, organized Burden's first retrospective exhibition, revealed this.

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Burden is famous for his 2008 large-scale sculpture, "Urban Ligh,t" made up of 202 vintage steel lamps arranged at the plaza of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  The museum tweeted its sadness for the news and said that Burden had a profound impact on art and the city.

Burden, who was born in Boston in 1946, completed his fine art and architecture studies at the University of California Irvine. It was here that Burden became known when he locked himself inside a 2ft by 2ft by 3ft. high-school locker.

The artist gained notoriety in the art world when later that year, he had his friend shoot him with a .22 rifle in the arm while being filmed and titled the piece, "Shoot." He later became the first artist to be represented by Gagosian, a contemporary art gallery owned and run by Larry Gagosian.

After 50 art performances in the 70s, Burden applied his architectural training into creating large-scale sculpture. In 2008, he created and installed a 65-foot skyscraper at the Rockefeller Centre in New York which is made from construction toy parts known as Erector and titled work, "What My Dad Gave Me."

Burden's last work before his death is a homage to Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, who designed, built, and flew the first practical dirigible or airship powered by hydrogen. The work will be shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in a special exhibition beginning May 18.

The power of art was always a central motif in Burden's work. For the next 44 the artist approached his work with physical, emotional, visual, and social meanings that usually applied science and technology.

TagsChris Burden, sculpture, performance art, conceptual art, Urban Light, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gagosian Gallery