Victoria Miro: Doug Aitken Opens Multiple Projects Across Europe This Summer

Victoria Miro

Victoria Miro presents a solo exhibition by Doug Aitken at the Mayfair gallery. This summer marks a significant moment in the American artist’s career with two important European institutions celebrating his work: Station to Station opens at London’s Barbican on 27 June and a major survey exhibition opens at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt on 9 July. This specific constellation of five key works has been conceived for the gallery by Doug Aitken and deals with contemporary ideas of time through the use of sound, touch, light and reflectivity, with each work existing in a zone between abstraction and representation. At the core of the exhibition is Eyes Closed, Wide Awake (Sonic Fountain II), 2014, a free-standing sonic sculpture which combines water and sound to create an optical and auditory experience.

With four expansive film installations and correlating sculptures as well as a site-specific sound installation, this major survey exhibition in Germany will present an overview of the internationally renowned artist’s heterogeneous oeuvre throughout the entire exhibition area of the Schirn – and beyond. The exhibition will be curated by Matthias Ulrich. Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 9 July to 27 September 2015

The Barbican stages the only international stop of Station to Station, Doug Aitken’s experiment in spontaneous artistic creation. A ‘living exhibition’ encouraging cross-disciplinary collaborations among artists from different backgrounds, Station to Station takes over the Barbican’s indoor and outdoor spaces for 30 days, drawing together an inspiring and diverse fusion of international and UKbased artists from the world of contemporary art, music, dance, graphic design and film – much of it created live in the space. Participants include: Suicide, Terry Riley, Ed Ruscha, Lawrence Weiner, Tal R, Pedro Reyes, Boredoms, Mike Figgis, Urs Fischer, Ernesto Neto, Olaf Breuning, Stephen Shore, Olafur Eliasson, Anri Sala, Savages, Martin Creed, Joanna Hogg, Marcus Coates and many more. Station to Station: A 30 Day Happening, Barbican, 27 June to 26 July 2015.

Station to Station: the feature film UK public premiere: Friday 19 June, Barbican Cinema 1. A high-speed road-trip through modern creativity, Station to Station is a revolutionary feature comprised of 62 one-minute films.

In the summer of 2013, a train designed as a kinetic light sculpture by artist Doug Aitken traveled across America from the Atlantic to the Pacific over 24 days. Rolling into ten stations on the route, the train set in motion a series of happenings, each unique to its location and mix of creative participants. The film includes profiles, intimate moments on the train, conversations, and performances at the happenings: Ed Ruscha describing the discoveries to be made in the great American landscape; Beck performing with a gospel choir in the Mojave desert; Jackson Browne reflecting on the influence of the railroad on his music, and many more. Station to Station is a kaleidoscope of experience and artistic production, as much as it is a story of our evolving creative culture. Station to Station is released to UK cinemas on Friday 26 June, distributed by Dogwoof.

Doug Aitken – Victoria Miro Mayfair – until 31 July 2015

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