With nearly 2,000 exhibitions worldwide, Daniel Buren is one of the most active and recognized artists in contemporary art. His work, which plays on the relationship between substance and form, often provokes controversy, but has been welcomed by the most important institutions, such as the Elysée Palace recently. A look back at emblematic works of the 2017 winner of the Praemium Impériale (the "Nobel Prize" of Visual Arts).
Born in 1938 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Daniel Buren entered the École des métiers d'arts at the age of 20 where he studied painting and general decoration. Soon enough, his thoughts turned to the modes of presentation of painting and, well before street art, to the environment in which the works are presented. Whether for an interior (gallery, monument) or exterior (landscape, architecture), he developed the notion of "site-specific work" and perfected his artistic trademark: the use of alternating stripes, white or colored and in various materials, allowing for a renewed vision of a site.
By mixing painting, sculpture and architecture, Daniel Buren relies on the decorative power of art and has, for example, transfigured the Guggenheim in New York (picture below) and the Fondation Vuitton. Colors, light, movement, spaces: his installations play on the points of view and earned the artist the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1986.
Between admiration and controversy, Daniel Buren's work never leaves one indifferent. This was particularly the case in 1986 with Les Deux Plateaux, a public commission for the Cour d'honneur of the Palais Royal.
Located near the Ministry of Culture and the Comédie-Française, this work commonly called "Buren's columns" occupies 3,000 m2 of this site, which is classified as a historical monument, and consists of a mesh of 260 truncated cylinders. All made of white Carrara marble (Michelangelo and Rodin's favorite material) and of a unique width (8.7 cm), these columns of 3 different heights are covered with white and black stripes and dynamically arranged on this square that was previously used as a parking lot for the adjacent institutions.
Both a reference to ancient statuary and a tribute to the history of the site, a mecca for Parisian entertainment in the 17th century, Daniel Buren's work was designed to allow the public to freely invest the place. And it works! The checkerboard-like layout attracts children who have fun climbing the columns but also tourists who make this place one of the most Instagrammed in the capital.
But before this popular plebiscite, Les Deux Plateaux was the subject of much ink! Too modern and intellectual for the Commission Supérieure des Monuments Historiques, unsightly and disrespectful of heritage for the local residents, the project was the subject of numerous petitions and articles (225 in 45 newspapers!) to the point that it was almost completely aborted but, after numerous legal proceedings and a budget of 9 million francs, the first columns were not destroyed and the complete work was finally inaugurated on July 30, 1986.
His work responds magnificently to the architecture in the continuity of a work where colors, transparency and light meet
Rediscovering the light of the Grand Palais is the challenge taken up by Daniel Buren during the 2017 edition of Monumenta. The 13,500 m2 of the building with its famous glass dome were invested by the artist with a "forest" of colored plastic disks offering visitors a multitude of games on light.
Each disc was 3 meters high and functioned a bit like a parasol with, seen from below, numerous variations of colors on the ground and, looking from above, magnificent mirror effects throughout the space.
A global work totally in phase with the characteristics of the site and in which the public could, there too, wander freely.
Another famous work by Daniel Buren: "L'Observatoire de la lumière" (The Observatory of Light) deployed on the glass roofs of the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Made of 3,600 glasses, the 12 sails of the building created by Frank Gehry were covered, in staggered rows, with colored filters made up of alternating white and empty bands. Depending on the time of day and the seasons, the 13 colors selected by the artist made ever-changing forms appear and disappear.
Playing with contrast, transparency, reflections and colors: Daniel Buren is definitely a modern visual artist who has, to our great pleasure, totally freed himself from the canvas frame!
To learn more about this world-renowned French artist, go here or discover his artistic approach (in video) during the 2017 edition of Monumenta.
Valerie from Comme des Français
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