True colours: artist Daniel Buren’s kaleidoscopic takeover at Paris’ Le Bristol hotel

Something of an insider’s secret has been Le Bristol’s recent staging of sculptural exhibitions in its manicured gardens, from Ai Weiwei to Anish Kapoor

(Image credit: courtesy of Souvenir-photo© DB-ADAGP)

By Daven Wu

published 31 May 2016

For nearly a century, Le Bristol has been an institution along Paris’s fabled rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. From a marketing perspective though, the challenge has always been finding novel but authentic ways to keep up with the French capital’s glittering haul of palais hotels. In a very real sense, Le Bristol’s absorption into the Oetker Collection in 1978 has been a particular lifeline – the group has been an enthusiastic promoter of fashion functions, literary charity events and gastronomic celebrations that lure appreciative members of Paris’s jeunesse d’oreé.

Something of an insider’s secret has been Le Bristol’s staging of sculptural exhibitions in its manicured gardens, not least Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor and Xavier Veillan. To kick off the summer programme, Hicham Berrada has taken over Le Bar du Bristol with a film installation.

However, the marquee event is probably headlined by the French conceptual artist Daniel Buren who is currently staging his much anticipated return to Le Bristol in the garden right outside the 3 Michelin-starred Epicure. The occasion is a tasty appetiser to Buren’s turn at the Fondation Louis Vuitton where the 78-year old has swathed Frank Gehry’s sails with nearly 4000 pieces of coloured glass, transforming the gallery into an intoxicating sequence of billowing stained glass.

For Le Bristol’s site-specific installation, Buren is working on an altogether smaller, but no less effective, scale. ‘Une Pause Coloreé’ is exactly that – a kaleidoscopic interlude of rainbow hues folded around a sheltered walkway that is book-ended by open-toped dodecagon conservatories.

Of course, the Le Bristol work has antecedents, most notably in ‘Pergola’ for Hôtel de la Monnaie in 2009, and ‘La Pergola pour Trois Couleurs’ at Place Francois Mitterand, Joué-les-Tours. However, when staged against Le Bristol’s all-white façade and leafy greens, the effect of the coloured shades shifting through the day is singularly striking for their exuberant dappled effect.

The marquee event this year is probably headlined by the French conceptual artist Daniel Buren

Tasty appetiser — The occasion is a tasty appetiser to Buren’s turn at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. For Le Bristol’s site-specific installation, Buren is working on an altogether smaller, but no less effective, scale

INFORMATION

Une Pause Coloreé is on view until October.
For more information visit the Le Bristol website (opens in new tab)

ADDRESS

Le Bristol
112 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
75008 Paris

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

TOPICS

Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.