Throughout the course of his 45-year career, French artist Daniel Buren has bagged many of the finest locations in the world for his site specific artworks - Versailles, New York's Guggenheim and the likes Tokyo's Odaiba Bay, to name just a few. His latest venue is London's Lisson Gallery, where over the course of a week, he transformed the space with works that display his trademark colourful, geometric shapes and signature stripes.
We spoke to Buren to find out about the idea behind the show, the materials he uses, and his unconventional approach to clutter-management...
Wallpaper*: Talk us through the piece called 'Perimeter'.
Daniel Buren: It's so simple. It follows the perimeter of the room, which is an unusual L-shape, with varying heights. It's a complicated space, but more exciting to work with than a white cube. Playing with the idea of the perimeter – something I have never done before – I built the piece in-situ, as always. The same idea could be applied outdoors and I have done some huge outdoor pergolas similar to this. Or it could be developed into a cloister-like structure. The colours are simple – I could only get four colours of Plexiglas. I arrange them in alphabetical order depending on the language of the country I'm in, so for this piece, they are arranged as they are spelt in English. I always apply this system as soon as I start using more than two colours.
Tell us about the materials involved.
I always use local materials. These are the starting point. In Europe, you can get everything, but often I'm working in countries where unique materials are rare. Two weeks ago, I did a show in Senegal and the only material I liked was an anti-mosquito mesh that cost almost nothing. For the fabric pieces, I used a new material created three years ago by a very old French textile company. It's a hair-like optical fibre, on to which I have shone LEDs. I was the first to use it, and it is still being developed for use in industry and architecture.
What happens to the site-specific pieces after the show?
Unless the gallery can store them, they are destroyed. I won't keep them. I haven't had a studio for 43 years. If anyone buys the fabric pieces, they must be displayed exactly as I display them; in the middle of the wall, both horizontally and vertically. These are my rules. Either follow them or don't buy the work.
Much of your work is outdoors and lends itself well to collaborations. Do you encourage these?
Oh yes, I have done many collaborations with architects. Recently, I worked with Jean Nouvel on a huge public project in Italy in the town of Colle di Val d'Elsa, which took eight years to complete.
How is your project for the new Tottenham Court Road station progressing?
I can't say too much, but I started my part three and a half years ago, and it won't be ready until 2016. But I'm happy that it is a permanent piece, and that it will be seen by a lot of people.
’5 Squares of Electric Light # 1’, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery
Detailed view of ’5 Squares of Electric Light # 1’, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery
’A Perimeter for a Room’, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery
’A Perimeter for a Room’, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery
’A Perimeter for a Room’, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery
’5 Squares of Electric Light # 2’, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery
ADDRESS
52-54 Bell Street
London NW1 5DA
-
Maserati unveils the Fuoriserie By Hiroshi Fujiwara MC20 Cielo modelHiroshi Fujiwara, the so-called Godfather of Streetwear, lends his talents to Maserati’s in-house bespoke division, creating a stylish take on the company’s open-topped supercar
-
Diffar is a new Japanese hair brand making perfume oil at the foot of Mount FujiDiffar, a newly founded Japanese beauty brand, creates perfume oils for hair in its Mount Fuji laboratory that are set to travel the world
-
‘Architecture for Dogs is about exploring the joy and meaning behind design’: ADI’s latest exhibition celebrates the human-canine bondAs a showcase of designs for dogs opens in Milan, we find out why inviting our four-legged friends into exhibitions benefits everybody.
-
Inside the distorted world of artist George RouyFrequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form
-
‘I'm endlessly fascinated by the nude’: Somaya Critchlow’s intimate and confident drawings are on show in London‘Triple Threat’ at Maximillian William gallery in London is British artist Somaya Critchlow’s first show dedicated solely to drawing
-
Surrealism as feminist resistance: artists against fascism in Leeds‘The Traumatic Surreal’ at the Henry Moore Institute, unpacks the generational trauma left by Nazism for postwar women
-
Looking forward to Tate Modern’s 25th anniversary partyFrom 9-12 May 2025, Tate Modern, one of London’s most adored art museums, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a lively weekend of festivities
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA week in the world of Wallpaper*. Here's how our editors have been entertaining themselves in the run up to Christmas
-
Love, melancholy and domesticity: Anna Calleja is a painter to watchAnna Calleja explores everyday themes in her exhibition, ‘One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night’, at Sim Smith, London
-
Ndayé Kouagou speaks the language of the chaotic social media influencer in LondonNdayé Kouagou celebrates meandering incoherence with an exhibition, ‘A Message for Everybody’, at Gathering in London
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA snowy Swiss Alpine sleepover, a design book fest in Milan, and a night with Steve Coogan in London – our editors' out-of-hours adventures this week
