What happens when stripes become sculpture? For his latest exhibition, French artist Daniel Buren is revisiting his trademark motif—but with a twist. This time, he has created diagonal striped relief sculptures that pop out of the walls of Lisson Gallery in London.

“PILE UP: High Reliefs. Situated Works” features a series of wall sculptures comprised of triangular prisms and mirrored panels that reflect the geometric shapes, making it appear as if the forms are hovering in midair, or protruding into the next room.

Buren describes the “piled up” reliefs as discrete units—bricks—that lay the foundation for the larger structure. In a video interview about the exhibition, he says his foray into three-dimensional work is an extension of his earliest conceit. “The stripes before they are used mean nothing,” he says. “They take on significance when they are put together.”

Installation view of “Daniel Buren: PILE UP: High Reliefs. Situated Work” at Lisson Gallery in London.

The exhibition coincides with the recent permanent installation of Buren’s work at the Tottenham Court Road station on London’s Underground. The massive, brightly colored mural, Diamonds and Circles, works in situ, was created “specifically for the space, the environment, and the specific spiritual situation of the Underground,” Buren says. 

The artist notes that whether his work is presented at Lisson Gallery, where he has shown since the 1970s, an outdoor plaza, or underground, it is always inextricable from its site. “That’s the reason the majority of the work cannot be transported—because it will, for me, lose that kind of connection.”

Daniel Buren: PILE UP: High Reliefs. Situated Works is on view at Lisson Gallery in London from September 22–November 11.