AREA GUIDE > NEW CULTURE EDITION

For the third year in a row we have teamed up with New Art West Midlands to present a special culture edition of Area Guide.

Featuring a wealth of new graduate talent New Art WM chooses the best of the graduate shows to present 4 unique curated exhibitions of work that focuses on cross-art forms. This year the exhibitions, which start this month, will take place at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, mac birmingham, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Herbert Museum & Art Gallery, Coventry.

This edition also features upcoming exhibitions, festivals and cultural events taking place from now until May.

Read the edition online here or pick up an issue at the venues mentioned above.

Pavel Büchler at Ikon Gallery, 13 May – 12 July

Ikon presents the most comprehensive UK exhibition to date by Pavel Büchler. Involving a wide range of media one of the central pieces is a large installation of loudspeakers (pictured) based on a 1920s design by Marconi.

The work proclaims a quotation from Kafka’s The Castle, mediated through a first-generation text-to-speech computer programme:  “You are not from the Castle, you are not from the village, you aren’t anything. Or rather, unfortunately, you are something, a stranger, a man who isn’t wanted and is in everybody’s way …”

AK Dolven – Please Return, 4 February – 19 April – Ikon Gallery

Please Return is the latest exhibition by Norwegian artist AK Dolven at Ikon. Through a combination of painting, photography, film and sound Dolven’s work represents the natural forces that surround us. Her choice of subject matter is similar to the renowned nineteenth century painter and fellow Norwegian Peder Balke (1804 – 87) whom Dolven identifies with whose work she has chosen to include in the exhibition alongside her own.

Ikon Summer Events

There are plenty of things to keep you busy at the Ikon over the summer with creative workshops, walking tours and family activities…

Ikon – Those were the decades… starts this weekend

This year marks Ikon’s 50th and to celebrate the milestone they are presenting a series of events focusing on the five decades of the gallery’s history and the social, political and cultural context. This weekend sees the focus of the 60’s and the rise of counterculture.

Saturday 29 March, 11am-8pm – The Library of Birmingham

The first event in this series celebrates the 1960s. A full day of talks, screenings and discussions includes…

SHIMABUKU: Something that Floats / Something that Sinks – Ikon Gallery, 24 July – 15 September

‘Feel free to take a rubber band out of the box, and pass your body through it’. This playful suggestion was sketched onto the wall of the Wilkinson Gallery in 2004. The artist could see the worth in doing frivolous things, and his audience was invited to take delight in such frivolity. Seven years later, Berlin-based, Japanese artist Shimabuku was again lauded, this time by The Guardian, for his ability to make the familiar strange, and to cast the conventional in a magical light.

July/August Area Culture Guide

Welcome to the latest edition of Area Culture Guide for July/August 2013. Check out the latest events inside the guide and see who is featured below…

Area Culture Guide – MAY edition

Check out the latest edition of AREA CULTURE GUIDE featuring art, music, fashion & shopping, comedy plus the opportunity to win tickets to over 30 festivals. Click here to see the digital edition or pick up your copy from outlets around the West Midlands.

Metropolis: Reflections on the modern city @BM_AG

Ever since early hunter-gatherer tribes first sought the protection and benefits of settlements –beginning with Uruk, Eridu, Ur and Çatalhöyük – towns and cities the world over have offered a rich source of fascination and inspiration for artists of all disciplines.

@ikongallery 15 years in Brindleyplace

It’s hard to recall the derelict space of Birmingham’s Brindleyplace compared to the destination it is now. Packed with offices and eateries it is home to one of the city’s favourite venues, Ikon Gallery and has become the must-visit place when aiming to impress friends from out of town. To celebrate 15 years since opening its doors to the public in its new home in Oozells Street School, Ikon presents 2 events to take you back in time and look at the history of the area.