Daniel Buren "Situated Works 1966-2013"
SCAI Piramide
Starts 5/14
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Artists
Daniel Buren
With a career spanning more than sixty years since the mid-1960s, Daniel Buren (born in 1938 in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris. He lives and works in situ) is today regarded as one of the most important artists of our time. From the founding association of Daniel Buren, Olivier Mosset, Michel Parmentier, and Niele Toroni in 1967, which made waves within the traditional art establishment of the time, to the “affichages sauvages” carried out in the streets in the mid-60s, his practice has consistently demonstrated its radically critical and philosophical disposition. Buren’s visual tool 8.7-cm vertical stripes, white and colored has been continuously employed to this day and remain central to his practice. He uses it around the world in works in situ that explore the structural, historical, and symbolic conditions of the locations — galleries, museums, architecture, landscapes — where they are created. Notable example includes Les Deux Plateaux (1985–1986), widely known as “Buren’s columns”, and more recently, The Observatory of Light (2016), realized in collaboration with the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s building designed by Frank Gehry. Closely connected to Japan - where he has made repeated visits since participating in the 10th Tokyo Biennale in 1970, and where his encounter with the notion of shakkei (借景, “borrowed scenery”) proved crucial to the development of his work - Buren was awarded the Praemium Imperiale for Painting in 2007. The artist, who never cease to question his artistic pursuit, is presenting at SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, on view March, in parallel with many other projects around the world he actively engaged in.
The exhibition at SCAI PIRAMIDE presents a selection of the artist’s historical works dating from the 1960s and 1980s to more recent pieces created in the 2010s, cloth-like pieces employing optical fiber. Peinture aux formes variables (1966), a piece, bordered with white acrylic paint on three sides of the black-and-white striped cotton canvas, was made shortly after Buren’s initial discovery of a fabric with alternating vertical white and colored stripes, 8.7 cm wide - a material he would adopt in his practice. In particular, this tool allows him to reveal the distinctive features of the space in which he works, by creating specific and sometimes complex works that blend painting, sculpture, and architecture. Five Elements are acrylic paintings on cloth in white and yellow, and white and blue, created for the 1989 ICA Nagoya exhibition. Thoroughly stripped of expressive subjectivity, the artist’s extremely simple gesture of covering the two outer white bands with white pigment questions the very notion of personal artistic style as well.
The pieces composed of optical fiber incorporating LEDs date back to 2013 will be displayed in Gallery 2. Having resulted from collaborations with manufacturers in Lyon, a city traditionally known for its textile industry, Buren’s work demonstrates how he explored interventions in space and the surrounding environment through elements such as light and color. Color, according to the artist, is the sole irreducible element of visual art - an internally experienced phenomenon that is indescribable and never fully transferable to others. In the second half of the exhibition, Gallery 2 will undergo a rotation of works, during which the rare 6.5-hour movie Towards Time as Far as the Eye Can See (2018/Directed by Daniel Buren) will be screened.
The vertical stripes are described by the artist as “an invariable sign in the midst of millions of possible things that never stop varying,” and used by him for over six decades. The body of works shed new light on Buren’s practice, revealing the enduring foundations of his principles remained unwavering even as the world around them continues to change. Alongside his longstanding concept of in situ, the historical pieces by the globally renowned artist Daniel Buren, affirm its continuing significance and resonate strongly within a contemporary perspective.
The exhibition at SCAI PIRAMIDE presents a selection of the artist’s historical works dating from the 1960s and 1980s to more recent pieces created in the 2010s, cloth-like pieces employing optical fiber. Peinture aux formes variables (1966), a piece, bordered with white acrylic paint on three sides of the black-and-white striped cotton canvas, was made shortly after Buren’s initial discovery of a fabric with alternating vertical white and colored stripes, 8.7 cm wide - a material he would adopt in his practice. In particular, this tool allows him to reveal the distinctive features of the space in which he works, by creating specific and sometimes complex works that blend painting, sculpture, and architecture. Five Elements are acrylic paintings on cloth in white and yellow, and white and blue, created for the 1989 ICA Nagoya exhibition. Thoroughly stripped of expressive subjectivity, the artist’s extremely simple gesture of covering the two outer white bands with white pigment questions the very notion of personal artistic style as well.
The pieces composed of optical fiber incorporating LEDs date back to 2013 will be displayed in Gallery 2. Having resulted from collaborations with manufacturers in Lyon, a city traditionally known for its textile industry, Buren’s work demonstrates how he explored interventions in space and the surrounding environment through elements such as light and color. Color, according to the artist, is the sole irreducible element of visual art - an internally experienced phenomenon that is indescribable and never fully transferable to others. In the second half of the exhibition, Gallery 2 will undergo a rotation of works, during which the rare 6.5-hour movie Towards Time as Far as the Eye Can See (2018/Directed by Daniel Buren) will be screened.
The vertical stripes are described by the artist as “an invariable sign in the midst of millions of possible things that never stop varying,” and used by him for over six decades. The body of works shed new light on Buren’s practice, revealing the enduring foundations of his principles remained unwavering even as the world around them continues to change. Alongside his longstanding concept of in situ, the historical pieces by the globally renowned artist Daniel Buren, affirm its continuing significance and resonate strongly within a contemporary perspective.
Schedule | May 14 (Thu) 2026-Sep 19 (Sat) 2026 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.scaithebathhouse.com/en/exhibitions/2026/05/daniel_buren_situated_works_1966-2013/ | ||||
| Venue | SCAI Piramide https://www.scaithebathhouse.com/en/ | ||||
| Location | 3F Piramide Bldg., 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032 | ||||
| Access | 1 minute walk from exit 1a or 1b at Roppongi Station on the Hibiya or Toei Oedo line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3821-1144 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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