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.

Junction Festival, Wolverhampton – 3 – 5 July

Junction Festival, Wolverhampton takes place this weekend across venues and locations in and around Chapel Ash.

34 local artists will exhibit works at The Asylum Gallery, Clifton Street, Chapel Ash and at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

The Asylum Gallery exhibition will be open 11am to 4pm from 3- 11 July with a celebratory festival ‘opening’ from 6pm on Friday. Works at Wolverhampton Art Gallery can be viewed between 10am and 5pm Monday to Saturday until 25 July.

Mental Spaces artists are exhibiting at The Clarendon Function Room and Belinda Longsden’s Art Van will be on site at The Royal Oak over the festival weekend. Eagle Works will be opening its doors for the festival and there is also a Sketchcrawl organized on Saturday 4th starting at The Combermere at 11am. Everyone welcome to turn up with a sketchbook and join in.

Bands will provide entertainment at The Combermere, The Clarendon, The Royal Oak, Tap and Ale, The Chindit a stage will be set up in collaboration with Beatsabar and Culture Dub Orchestra on the Junction of Chapel Ash, Compton Road and Merridale Road. 

Visitors to the festival can also experience performance art and poetry throughout the weekend. 

Facebook: Junction Wolverhampton

WIN TICKETS TO THE MAGIC OF MOTOWN’S REACH OUT® 2014 SHOW

The Magic of Motown is coming to the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton on the 13th July with its all-new Reach Out 2014 Tour and we have two pairs of tickets to see the show to give away.

The Magic of Motown 2014 Reach Out Tour brings to the stage 36 chart toppers back-to-back in one critically-acclaimed production. Direct from the USA, The Magic of Motown delivers five-star performances that authentically revive the style and sophistication of everyone’s favourite legends from the famous, Detroit-based record label.

David Hancock: Cosplay until 1st June @WolvArtGallery

The work of Manchester based artist David Hancock focuses on youth subcultures and in this latest solo exhibition he focuses on the world of ‘Cosplay’. Short for ‘costume play’ the relative recent craze is one that people have adopted to dress up as characters from various computer games, comic books and films.

Zed Nelson: ‘Love Me,’ Until 8 June @WolvArtGallery

Beauty. It’s a big brassy world. It’s a 53.7 billion dollar world and it’s a world which is extensively and cross-culturally explored by Zed Nelson in his latest exhibition  Love Me.  

The Bronx, Slade Rooms, 15 Feb @Wolvescivic

The Bronx exploded onto the scene a decade ago with a sound reminiscent of L.A. punk’s heyday, heavy percussion and artillery-fire guitars alongside anguished lyrics about society’s dysfunction and the perils of street life. Ten years on, the band’s sound has evolved tremendously, thanks to an act of defiance in 2006. Being asked to do an acoustic performance did not sit well with the punk rockers, and they stormed the stage donning sombreros and performing a mariachi version of their hit ‘Dirty Leaves’. What was intended to be an angry ‘two fingers up’ had an unforeseen result however, and alter ego ‘El Bronx’ took on a life of its own, offering a fresh and infectious take on the genre and winning them fans worldwide.

Area Culture Guide December Issue

Welcome to the December edition of Area Culture Guide, which you can read online here, featuring…

Steel Panther – @Wolvescivic 6th November 2012

They wear ridiculous clothes, have long lush hair, pout more than Barbie and they’re hitting Wolverhampton in fine spandex glory in November. Welcome Steel Panther and their crimes against fashion.

Michael Starr (vocals), Satchel (guitar), Lexxi Foxxx (bass) and Stix Zadinia (drums) released their second album last year and toured with Motley Crue and Def Leppard. Now they are hitting the UK with a tour to follow on from their successfully received support slots.

Here’s a little impromptu set from them at 2010’s SXSW.

Tickets priced £17.00 will be available from today at Midland Box Office: 0870 320 7000 or online at www.wolvescivic.co.uk

Area Culture Guide: April Edition

Here is the new edition of Area Culture Guide welcoming you to the month of April with a host hints and tips on things to do around the West Midlands. Look out for your copy at venues throughout Birmingham or check it out online here.

Mark Thomas – Extreme Rambling (Walking The Wall)

First the bad news: Mark Thomas‘ show at the Wolverhampton Little Civic on 27th April has sold out; now the good: due to demand an extra date has been added, and Mark will be making a welcome return to the Midlands on 24th August.