InterRailing: A Cultural Engine

12 Star Gallery, Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3EU

Many artists in the 1980s and 90s travelled by train from city to town across Europe, visiting art collections, architecture, landscapes and people; usually in a concentrated month that changed their lives. Paul Ryan’s sketchbooks archive several of these journeys, and will be displayed alongside artworks, tickets, manuscripts, photographs, postcards, mementos. Also exhibited are reminiscences and work from several UK based EU artists and friends who also ‘InterRailed’ including Daniel Baker, Jeremy Deller, Mike Nelson, Marie-Thérèse Ross and composer David Sawer. Ryan has made sketchbooks the centre of his art practice, highlighting their unfinished and portable qualities. He has recently been in Austria working on a project about Robert Musil: www.paulryan.co.uk

At a time when Europe’s borders, and freedom of movement are re-examined, this exhibition highlights some past beneficiaries of a chance to roam; and considers the impact of such journeys on our shared cultural life, then and now.

Exhibition continues 7 – 23 December 2016

This exhibition is dedicated to Giles Waterfield 1949-2016

Image: Altered States EU-R © Daniel Baker 2015