Peter Doig – Places of Imagination

Even before the opening of Art Cologne 2026, Galerie Boisserée is opening a new studio exhibition. On display is a collection of prints by Peter Doig.

Peter Doig was born in Edinburgh in 1959, and his early childhood was marked by family travel and moves to places as far away as the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Canada. Doig developed a strong interest in art, theater, and film, which led him to study painting. After returning to Great Britain, he began his studies at London’s Wimbledon School of Art in 1980. Alongside his studies, he also worked in the theater. He was particularly fascinated by the world behind the scenes, costumes, and set design.

Doig attended further art academies in London, culminating in his master’s degree in 1990. In 2002, he and his family moved back to Trinidad to rediscover the island and its flora as adults. From 2005 to 2017, Peter Doig was a professor of painting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy.

The diverse locations and their varied landscapes left a lasting impression on him. These visual experiences form an inexhaustible repertoire of imagery that finds expression in his work. Peter Doig’s paintings often depict real-life experiences, such as his work “Pelican,” which portrays a man with a pelican. He witnessed a man catching this impressive bird during a walk on a Trinidadian beach. A combative, awe-inspiring, yet also disturbing scene. The many influences of snow and people who engage with it, whether for sport or leisure, are strongly shaped by Peter Doig’s own experience as a passionate winter sports enthusiast, ice hockey player, and skier, especially during his time in Canada. He is also deeply fascinated by cinema, which led him to found the StudioFilmClub in Trinidad in 2003. Weekly screenings of films sent to him by friends and acquaintances took place in his artist’s studio. Doig always painted the film posters for these evenings himself. Many of his works reference films that have made a strong impression on him. The exhibition includes the work “Two People at Night (indigo),” which depicts two people on a nighttime canoe trip. The canoe motif is a recurring theme in several of his works, inspired by the horror film “Friday the 13th.”

The exhibition in the studio of the Galerie Boisserée showcases printmaking works from the years 1996 to 2016 and is dedicated to various motif worlds of the artist Peter Doig.