Doug Aitken, Black Mirror (2011).
Photo: Courtesy of Gallery, London; Regen Projects, Los Angeles Film Still © Doug Aitken

The first retrospective of Doug Aitken’s work will open at Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt today.

This adds to the projects that Aitken is working on at the moment, which include “Station to Station: A 30 Day Happening” at the Barbican and his show at Victoria Miro Gallery, in London.

Doug Aitken, SONG (2012).
Photo: Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution;
303 Gallery, New York; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Victoria Miro
Gallery, London; and Regen Projects, Los Angeles © Frederick Charles.

The mammoth Barbican project comprises of 100 free events in 30 days, while the exhibition at Victoria Miro focuses on sculptural works. Add this to his the film project Station to Station, which chronicles a 4,000-mile long journey across the United States, and you can almost legitimately dub this “the summer of Aitken.”

The major survey, titled “Doug Aitken,” at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt fills the 1,400 square meter space with film alongside sculpture, both inside the museum as well as in its outdoor space. Film works include SONG 1 (2012/2015), Black Mirror (2011), migration (empire) (2008) and diamond sea (1997), while the sound water-sculpture Sonic Fountain II (2013/2015) will be playing in a publicly accessible rotunda for the duration of the exhibition.

Doug Aitken, SONG 1(2012/2015).
Photo: Courtesy of Norbert Miguletz © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2015.

Aitken, born in Redondo Beach California in 1968, has become famous for his multifaceted practice, combining film, sculpture, performance, and music.

“For more than two decades, the works by American artist Doug Aitken have expanded our possibilities of perception,” said Max Hollein, director of Schirn Kunsthalle. “For Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Doug Aitken, for the first time, casts a retrospective look at his influential oeuvre, resulting in a parcours that renders the architecture of the building invisible while connecting the different works to form a coherent spatial unit,” says Hollein.

Doug Aitken.
Photo: © Alayna Van Dervort.

Schirn Kunsthalle opened in 1986, and has put on exhibitions with Thomas Hirschhorn, Carsten Nicolai, Jonathan Meese, John Bock, Michael Sailstorfer, Terence Koh, Aleksandra Mir, Eberhard Havekost, Mike Bouchet, and Yoko Ono, among others.

“Doug Aitken” is on view at Schirn Kunsthalle from July 9 – September 27.

Doug Aitken, Black Mirror (2011).
Photo: Courtesy the artist; 303 Gallery, New York; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Regen Projects, Los Angeles Film Still © Doug Aitken.