Peter Doig Turns Up the Volume

Peter Doig occupies a rare position in contemporary painting, enjoying both broad public appeal and critical esteem. His lush colour and dreamlike realism—epitomised by works such as White Canoe (1991)—have secured him a large audience and some of the highest market values of his generation. Born in Edinburgh, Doig has lived and worked in Montreal and Toronto, before spending roughly two decades in Trinidad, where he ran a cinema club. In 2021, he returned to London, establishing a new studio base there.

His exhibition House of Music at Serpentine South Gallery marks a notable shift for an artist best known for figurative painting. Conceived as a single, immersive installation, the exhibition brings music into the gallery alongside painting for the first time, drawing directly on Doig’s long-standing engagement with sound system culture and cinema—interests shaped during his years in Trinidad. The exhibition’s title is taken from the lyrics of Dat Soca Boat by Shadow, a Trinidadian calypso musician Doig admires and has collaborated with. Music selected from his extensive archive of vinyl records and cassettes plays throughout the gallery, echoing the soundtracks Doig listens to while painting in the studio.

For Doig, music has always been central to his working process. He has likened painting to recording music, describing both as activities shaped by chance and improvisation. Songs, he suggests, possess a visual quality: they conjure images and atmospheres, something he has sought to achieve in his paintings over many years.

Large-scale analogue sound systems dominate the galleries. Two pairs of towering speakers—originally designed in the mid-20th century for cinemas and auditoria—have been carefully restored by Laurence Passera, a specialist in vintage cinematic sound systems and a long-time collaborator of Doig. Music from Doig’s personal collection plays daily through original 1950s wooden Klangfilm Euronor ‘high fidelity’ speakers. In the central gallery, a monumental Western Electric and Bell Labs system—initially developed to meet the demands of early sound cinema—stands like a sculptural monument to 20th-century cultural history. This system is activated daily by guest musicians and artists, who play selections from their own collections.

Together, sound and image transform the gallery into an expansive listening environment. Visitors are encouraged to linger, engage with the paintings, and share experiences shaped by memory and cultural association. Richly coloured, textured paintings are woven into the soundscape, creating a fully immersive experience. Sofas and reclining chairs placed throughout the space invite viewers to settle in and absorb the atmosphere.

Doig’s paintings frequently draw on memory and archival imagery, using old photographs as triggers rather than direct references. Each work carries an implicit narrative. Some honour musicians and performances, such as Embah in Paris(2017), while others depict moments of movement and dance, as in Fall in New York (Central Park) (2002–2012). Among the most striking works in the exhibition are three large-scale, dreamlike paintings showing lions roaming the streets of Port of Spain, Trinidad. These unexpected encounters between animal and city possess a surreal grandeur, heightened by hazy light and saturated colour that evoke the Caribbean environment.

The lion carries particular symbolic weight within Rastafarian culture, where the Lion of Judah—associated with Haile Selassie I, former Emperor of Ethiopia—represents pride, resistance, sovereignty, and spiritual belonging. Its mane, echoed in the dreadlocks of Rastafarians, reinforces ideas of identity and connection that resonate within Doig’s Trinidadian imagery.

Doig’s standing as a major painter is already firmly established, which raises the question of whether this fusion of painting and music is necessary. While music has undeniably shaped his visual language, turning the entire exhibition into a sonic installation risks feeling indulgent, despite Doig’s suggestion that it breaks a “great cultural taboo.” One might compare it to insisting on a live performance of The Rite of Spring alongside Les Demoiselles d’Avignon to underline shared primitivist roots—an association that, while interesting, is not essential. Ultimately, Doig’s paintings are strong enough to speak on their own terms.

Peter Doig: House of Music

Serpentine South Gallery

10 October 2025 – 8 February 2026