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25/3/2005

Doug Aitken

Henry Art Gallery, Seattle

Stroum Gallery

Four scenes cycle across three screens in Doug Aitken’s mesmerizing video installation, interiors. Individual actors wander through a range of stark landscapes and interiors: industrial lands, a helicopter factory, a locker room, an auction hall. For the most part alone, these figures prepare for various activities. A young woman suits up to play handball; a Japanese auctioneer warms up his voice. Suddenly, their unrelated activities intersect in a strange,
intense piece of music composed for tap dancer, auctioneer, handball player, and rapper (OutKast’s Andre Benjamin). Just as the viewer is drawn into the song, it collapses, restarts, and dissolves. Built of mysterious yet recognizable elements, Aitken’s installation achieves a surprising, stunning synthesis. As a document, it captures a broad, inclusive picture of modern life through an accumulation of moments.

Doug Aitken has emerged as a leader in the rethinking of traditional video and video installation art. interiors is an installation of videos projected onto architectural fabric structures. This departure from the flat frame allows the artist to explore the traditional boundaries of narrative structure. interiors features a series of seemingly disparate narratives, which are eventually joined through a fusion of visuals and sound. Characters move through vivid environments and landscapes, including a Tokyo penthouse, an urban junkyard, and a Los Angeles helicopter factory.

In 2000, Aitken received the Aldrich Award from the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, CT. His installation Electric Earth was one of the highlights of the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial, 2000 and was awarded the International Prize at the Venice Biennale, 1999.

This project was organized by the Fabric Workshop and supported by a grant from the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, a program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, and administered by The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Major support was also provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The National Endowment for the Arts provided additional funding for Aitken’s residency at The Fabric Workshop and Museum.

Doug Aitken: interiors is organized for the Henry Art Gallery by Chief Curator Elizabeth Brown. Support for this exhibition has been provided by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The Boeing Company, William and Ruth True, and donors to the Henry Art Gallery Contemporary Art Fund. In-kind support provided by the Grand Hyatt Seattle, Pyramid Breweries, The Stranger, and KEXP 90.3 FM.

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North Galleries
Celebrity Skin
February 25–May 8, 2005

Celebrity Skin examines how celebrity identities are constructed through the widespread circulation of photographic images in popular culture. In an innovative pairing, this exhibition features images from La Galerie Contemporaine, a late 19th-century French portfolio of celebrated artistic, literary and political figures, alongside Seattle artist Alice Wheeler’s photographs of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, and their fans. In the Paris and Seattle of their respective times, the photographers brought glimpses of creative subcultures to the forefront of contemporary consciousness.

Curated by former Associate Curator Robin Held and generously supported by donors to the Contemporary Art Fund. Special thanks to Greg Kucera Gallery.

The Henry Art Gallery is located on the western edge of the University of Washington campus at 15th Avenue NE and NE 41st Street.
Hours:
11 - 5 Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
11 - 8 Thursday

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