The exhibition includes new and existing work by Buren in its Level 3 and 4 galleries, including a large-scale commission for the renowned Level 4 gallery. A selection of rarely seen reliefs, paintings and sculptures from the last seven years. Other works made with paint, fibreboard and tape play with depth, surface and architecture. While the stripes have remained a recognisable and intrinsic element of Buren’s practice, recently his works have become more sculptural and architectural in form.
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead presents the work of Daniel Buren
(born Boulogne-Billancourt, 1938), widely considered to be France’s greatest living artist and
one of the most influential and important figures in contemporary art for the last 50 years.
Buren has exhibited in many of the world’s major art institutions and realised numerous
external commissions. This summer, a major exhibition at BALTIC will include new and
existing work by Buren in its Level 3 and 4 galleries, including a large-scale commission for
its renowned Level 4 gallery.
In the 1960s Buren developed a radical form of conceptual art, a ‘degree zero of painting’,
creating works which draw attention to the relationship between art and context. He
abandoned traditional painting and adopted the 8.7 cm wide vertical stripe, used as a ‘visual
tool’ to prompt a reading of the work’s surroundings rather than just the work itself. Made
with paint, fabric, paper, tape among other materials, the stripes appear in his interventions
in galleries, museums, and public sites. For almost four decades, Buren has chosen to make
work in situ, responding to a particular location, and colouring the spaces in which they are
created.
While the stripes have remained a recognisable and intrinsic element of Buren’s practice,
recently his works have become more sculptural and architectural in form. The artist’s
installation Excentrique(s), at the Grand Palais in Paris, commissioned for MONUMENTA,
2012, comprised a series of raised, coloured circular structures covering the 13,500 m2 nave
and providing a ‘ceiling’ that could be walked under.
At BALTIC, Buren will present a selection of rarely seen reliefs, paintings and sculptures
from the last seven years on Level 3. Luminous fibre optic works from the artist’s Electric
Light series (2011) continue the artist’s preoccupation with form, space, light and colour.
Other works made with paint, fibreboard and tape play with depth, surface and architecture.
The works will provide further insight into the breadth of his practice. Details of works on
Level 4 will be announced in June.
DANIEL BUREN was born in Boulogne-Billancourt in 1938. He has been the subject of
retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2005) and the Centre
Pompidou, Paris (2002). His work is also included in prestigious private and publiccollections worldwide. Buren has exhibited at the Venice Biennale more than 10 times and
was awarded the Golden Lion for his French Pavilion in 1986. That same year, he produced
his first and most controversial public commission, The Two Plateaux, for the main courtyard
of the Palais-Royal in Paris. In 2007, he received the Praemium Imperiale for Painting from
Japan. Most recently, he was selected to exhibit at MONUMENTA 2012 at the Grand Palais
in Paris.
BALTIC is a major international centre for contemporary art situated on the south bank of
the River Tyne in Gateshead, England. BALTIC presents a constantly changing, distinctive
and ambitious programme of exhibitions and events, and is a world leader in the
presentation, commissioning and communication of contemporary visual art. BALTIC has
welcomed over 5 million visitors, since opening to the public in July 2002.
Image: Daniel Buren, Five Colors for a Cylinder: work in situ, permanent work for the Milano Triennale, October 2013 © Daniel Buren & ADAGP Paris
For further information, interview requests and images please contact Chloë Barker, BALTIC
Media Relations Executive T: 0191 440 4915 E: chloeb@balticmill.com
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Gateshead Quays - South Shore Road - Gateshead NE8 3BA UK
Opening hours:
Monday – Sunday 10.00-18.00
Except Tuesdays 10.30-18.00
Admission: FREE