Daniel Buren
Constellations: Metz
Daniel Buren, Constellation, Metz, France, 2009.
Photo-souvenir : 5610 flammes colorées pour un arc-en-ciel (5610 coloured flames for a rainbow), May 2009, Work in situ, in "Constellation", 2009, Metz, France. © DB – ADAGP Paris and DACS, London 2022.
"I’ve always thought that colour in visual art is the only thing that is totally impossible to describe and replace by words. I think it’s the only way in the art field to speak without speaking. Everything else you can describe."
Daniel Buren's Constellation consists of 5610 coloured 'flames' which he sees as 'visual tools' to create the illusion of a rainbow sweeping the streets of Metz.
Buren's play on light and natural phenomena draped the streets of Metz in colour with Buren's signature trademark stripes elevated in the air. It was part of Constellations, an exhibition curated by Laurent Le Bon to mark the opening of the Centre Pompidou-Metz, with site-specific public art commissions.
DANIEL BUREN
Daniel Buren (b. 1938, Paris, France) has had a decades-long career creating works that explore relationships between medium and form. Buren is a pioneer in the practice of creating site-specific artworks, connecting his works with the areas in which they are displayed. Working in situ, he uses alternating stripes employed in various contexts to navigate colour, light, movement, the environment to create pieces that have received international acclaim. In 2007, Daniel Buren received the Praemium Imperiale, awarded by the Emperor of Japan.
"My overall approach toward art is to remain as open as possible in front of the world, to always be curious."