Solo for Ayumi, 2017

For his second solo exhibition with Esther Schipper, Ari Benjamin Meyers presented Solo for Ayumi: a musical portrait realized in collaboration with Berlin-based violinist Ayumi Paul, in an exhibition format.

In 2017, Meyers and Ayumi Paul engaged in a correspondence based on Paul's life, forming the point of departure of Solo for Ayumi. From the approximately thirty letters that she sent him, Meyers chose twelve to which he responded by inscribing them with a multi-part score, composing both a musical portrait and abstraction of the violin player.

Every day for the duration of the exhibition, Paul was present in the gallery space, enacting Meyers' interpretation of her life on her violin. Each one of Meyers’ score forms a series of individual motifs, part of a bigger composition that the violinist repeated every day, like a mantra.