Jake Aikman

(b. 1978, London)

Jake Aikman was born in London in 1978 and currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. He obtained his Masters of Fine Arts, specialising in painting in 2008 from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, after completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2005.

Aikman had his first solo exhibition, This Must Be The Place, in 2006 at Everard Read gallery, Cape Town. Since then, he has presented six solo exhibitions including Echoes in 2009, Proximity in 2011 and At the Quiet Limit in 2013 at SMAC Gallery. His solo exhibition Confini Velati/Veiled Boundaries was presented in 2014 in Rome following a residency in Trevignano Romano in Italy, which was facilitated by the Centro Luigi Di Sarro. Aikman presented his sixth solo exhibition Haunt, at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg, earlier in 2017.

In 2009 Aikman exhibited in L’Anima Del Acqua: The Spirit of Water an exhibition presented as part of the 53rd Venice Biennale. He was also an invited artist for the 4th Beijing International Art Biennale and exhibited in Paralleli, an official exhibition to the 2nd Sabbionetta Biennale in 2010, and the Olympic Fine Arts exhibition Creative Cities Collection that was held at the Barbican Centre in London in 2012.

In 2017 Aikman recently took part in the ArtUnitedUs urban art project, where he painted a striking three-story mural on the side of a building in Kiev, Ukraine. The art project collaborates with communities to raise public awareness of issues around war, aggression, and violence.

Aikman's work was included in SMAC Gallery’s presentation at the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London.

In 2018 he presented a solo exhibition in Granada, Spain at Suburbia Granada in the historic centre of the city. Suburbia Granada will present a series of new works by Aikman at The Others art fair in Turin in November 2018.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

2018
SUMMER, Everard London Gallery, London, UK

2017
Haunt, SMAC, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013
At the Quiet Limit, SMAC, Johannesburg, South Africa

2011
Proximity, SMAC, Johannesburg, South Africa

2009
Echoes, SMAC, Johannesburg, South Africa