daniel buren: excentrique(s) for monumenta 2012

daniel buren: excentrique(s) for monumenta 2012 ‘excentrique(s)’ by daniel buren for monumenta 2012 all images © monumenta 

monumenta 2012 daniel buren: excentrique(s) grand palais, paris, france open may 10th until june 21st, 2012

each year the french ministry of culture and communication invites a leading contemporary artist to develop an installation which investigates the architectural space of the grand palais in paris. the monumental scale of the gallery provided the form for their annual exhibition, monumenta. this year, french artist daniel buren has developed a temporary, site-specific installation to fill the interior of the expansive glass-domed hall.  the massive venue was originally developed for the 1900 universal exhibition. for its fifth year, after guest artists anselm kiefer, richard serra, christian boltanski, and anish kapoor, daniel buren now takes the stage with his investigation of 13,500 m2 of space. the colorful reinterpretation of this major public space takes place during the third la triennale for contemporary art for paris. 

image by didier plowy © daniel buren, ADAGP, paris

picturing ‘excentrique(s)’ from beneath the structure’s roof

image by didier plowy © daniel buren, ADAGP, paris

a view of both the colorful shadows cast by the installation and the bright circular roof components

‘to create a work in situ on a monumental scale in a public space, daniel buren was an obvious choice for this fifth edition of monumenta. daniel buren has already tackled some of the most complex public spaces in the world. he has transformed iconic sites such as the guggenheim  in new york and the cour d’honneur at the palais-royal. he will therefore find the grand palais an ideal space for consideration.’ -frédéric mitterrand,  ministre de la culture et de la communication

a downward facing view of the work

a portrait of the artist surveying the site of his new installation image by farida bréchemier © monumenta 2012, ministère de la culture et de la communication