I’ve not really had a very good look at this yet but there are some good people involved and there’s an interesting open aspect to it. I’ll do a quote-y thing here and leave you to investigate the rest:
anticurate is imagined as mac birmingham’s version of an open exhibition. In association with mac birmingham, artist Trevor Pitt has devised the anticurate project as a platform to explore democratic and collective approaches to exhibition curating
Submitted artworks will be exhibited in the main gallery using a flexible exhibition structure and space that has been designed by Juneau Projects.
Each exhibition will be individually organised by invited groups that we are calling ‘anticurators’, including:
- young people from Project Platform and Ikon Youth programme
- a group of older people from Young at Heart
- members of the Extra Special People professional development programme at Eastside Projects
- a selection of mac birmingham staff
- Carli Frances and Rosie Carmichael of No Aloha arts collective
I hadn’t realised this was online and picked up on it while skimming the latest from this / inexplicably / styled website from the Arts Council. I’ll let plan b (not that one) explain:
We are making a living portrait of 24 hours in Birmingham with the people who move through its streets, parks, waste grounds and tow paths on foot for the Fierce Festival and the Midlands Art Centre (MAC) See planbperformance.net/?dayinlife.htm for details
A Day in the Life – The Walkers of Birmingham is much more than just a living map, it is a portrait of a city as experienced at ground level. The animation emphasises walking by filtering faster journeys and making these lines more feint
Birmingham Contemporary Art Forum will be hosting a silent auction of over thirty artworks from the 6 – 24 June 2011 for The Event’s third bi-annual visual art festival due to be held in Birmingham this Autumn. The bidding will close on the 24 June 2011 in Digbeth’s Bond Company, where the works will be available for viewing and final bids may be placed between 7 – 9pm.
Here’s a random smattering of what’s up for auction but you can see the whole lot here:
Victoria Jenkins
Sally Payen from a ‘series of case studies’
Juneau Projects – Emotional Modernism
Viv Sole – Barchan
Continuing the theme of writing about some of the stuff I get out and about to, last night I followed the robots down to AE Harris for the Fierce Start Party.
The idea with these things is to introduce next year’s artists to Birmingham and vice versa. There are a few Fierce stalwarts and returning names in the 2011-2012 caravan but plenty of new faces too. Because I’m too lazy to type them all out and too impatient to wait for them to appear online, here’s the list of names:
I arrived in time to have a bit of a natter with some people, watch some archery (BE Festival‘s Miguel winning the competition there) and see a balloon-festooned woman dosed up on sleeping pills who had quite literally danced until she’d dropped. The usual kind of Fierce thing then.
I should probably have got down a bit earlier to catch some more stuff but that’s the problem with these ’4pm til late’ things – it’s hard to tell when to turn up to catch the action. Still, there was plenty on display around the venue. I particularly liked the look of what Ron Athey will be cooking up – something to do with automatic writing.
In conclusion: Excellent and I’m looking forward to seeing how some of the embryonic ideas presented will turn out in 9 months time.
The concept begins with an open call for art, welcoming anyone creatively minded to submit their work. Original drawings, paintings, screen prints, photographs, textiles, stickers, poems… anything that can be rolled up and transported with ease.
The art is collected over a duration of 2-3 months, exhibited, and then distributed for free to an unsuspecting public, via an atmospheric array of honkingly exuberant and ravishingly roadworthy Berliners Brummies on Bicycles.
You had me at ‘honkingly’.
Papergirl Birmingham has a Papergirl Facebook Page. Read the info and get involved.
The first game of lawn tennis was played in 1859 by Major Harry Gem and his friend, Jean Batista Augurio Perera, on a court at the latter’s home, 8 Ampton Road, Edgbaston. This unique show at the Barber – less than half a mile away – is the first ever to explore the subject of tennis in art
So says the Barber Institute’s website. They’ve got an exhibition of tennis-related art (the first ever, apparently) running from 27 May – 18 September.
Dirty secret time – despite going to Birmingham University and walking past the place practically every other day I’ve still never been to the Barber Institute.
Pete Ashton, occasionally of this blog, launched his first exhibition this evening at the Central Library. I couldn’t get there and was a bit gutted about this. However, there are photos up already courtesy of Fiona Cullinan and I’ve got until 17 June to get down and have a peek, so all is not yet lost.
The exhibition, sponsored by The Royal Society For Arts West Midlands and Pure Planet Recycling Ltd is called Looking though Birmingham. Here’s some of the blurb from the EC Arts website:
Pete Ashton has created a series of slow animations consisting of sequential photographs shot through the artists own customised lens. The lens is made from a vintage camera which forms a process called “Through The Viewfinder”. The slow animations will be displayed on salvaged CRT monitors that have been converted into peep-show machines.
A frequent subject of Pete’s work is “unnoticed Birmingham”, the patterns and shapes that emerge as the city succumbs to and builds on the entropy of progress. For this show he invites you to view Birmingham’s pedestrian flow filtered through a nostalgic, intimate perspective of inner Birmingham. A second event will take place in June to view ‘outer’ Birmingham.
I was at the MAC the other day and spotted this attached to a tree:
It’s for RE:site, which is an exhibition put together by the Hive Collective and due to be shown at St Alphege Church in Solihull. It’s:
An exhibition of contemporary artwork at St Alphege Church, produced in response to creative exploration around the Solihull area.
In addition, artists Alison Saint, Claire Hickey, Emily Warner, Eva Bennett and Keeley Lowe will lead creative activities linked to the exhibition at the St Alphege Day community celebrations on Saturday 30th April 10am-3pm.
It’s on from 30 April until 6 May but check the viewing schedule for opening times.
Better yet, turn up to the launch on Thursday 28 April (4.30-6.30pm). It’s free, you get to meet the artists and refreshments will be provided. Not bad.
Paste artist, Lisk, rising star of the local scene and famed for his robots scattered across the city will compose a large scale paste of his robots finally completing their invasion of the city.
There’s more to come from EXYZT’s Burningham (part of this year’s Fierce Festival) with a few more events, 19-21 April.
Co-produced by VIVID & Fierce, this Saturday, 5 March, will see a public intervention held by artist Eitan Buchalter, from 11.30am – 3.30pm on Heath Mill Lane.
Buchalter will be expanding on his current body of work exploring how we flow through and interact with public spaces and what happens when aspects of our environment are disrupted
Not revealing what the full nature of this ‘intervention’ will be, he’ll be targeting the pedestrian traffic en route to the local derby between Birmingham City FC and West Bromwich Albion, with vouchers for free beer at a local pub. A quick flick through of his past projects and he seems to do a lot of standing… Perhaps that’s something to look out for?
‘Veer’ will also be broadcast live online at This is Tomorrow, from 11.30am.
As an In Association With … artist at VIVID and a Fierce Festival 2011 artist, he’ll also be featuring at this years Fierce Festival, with a talk, workshop and intervention.
After settling at 183 Fazeley Street back in 2008, Ikon have confirmed that as of April 2011, Ikon Eastside will be closing up for the final time, due to public funding cuts.
The large exhibition space at the heart of Digbeth, has provided the perfect setting for large-scale work, video and events over the past few years. It’s hosted work by internationally recognised artists, including Andy Warhol, Damián Ortega, Józef Robakowski and Siobhan Davies Dance.
Rites of Spring, a three day music festival featuring Turner Prize winner Martin Creed, Modified Toy Orchestra and Epic45 will be the last event held at Ikon Eastside, from 7 – 9 April.
We are extremely saddened to be losing Ikon Eastside, but our commitment to bringing internationally recognised art to the city is unwavering. Looking to the future, our goal remains to create a permanent museum of contemporary art for Birmingham.
- Jonathan Watkins, Ikon Director
It’s not all sad news though, since Ikon are intending to keep up their involvement with the Eastside district, focusing instead on site-specific events and promoting cultural regeneration through their membership of the Eastside Contemporary Art Consortium. Their current study into the feasibility of this permanent museum, (‘Ikon Two’) also remains unaffected.
Ikon are currently preparing for their latest round exhibitions, which open with a preview evening on 22 February, and will be on display until 25 April.
Marjolijn Dijkman
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World)
The first UK solo exhibition of work by Dutch artist Marjolijn Dijkman, featuring archival works, video, animation, sculpture and an installation inspired by the dining table of Soho House, Birmingham, the 18th century meeting place of the Lunar Society.
Robert Orchardson
Endless façade
The first European museum exhibition of works by Robert Orchardson (born Glasgow 1976, based in London), an artist who makes sculptures inspired by science fiction and futuristic design.
Rabbya Nasser and Hurmat Ul Ain
White as Snow
Pakistani artists Rabbya Naseer and Hurmat Ul Ain present White as Snow (2008), a video short that challenges assumptions about women in the Islamic world.
On 23 February Robert Orchardson and Marjolijn Dijkman will also be in conversation with Francine Houben, the architect of Birmingham’s new library building. They’ll be discussing shared interest in notions of modernism, progress and utopian themes within the built environment.
The event is from 6.30 – 8pm and is free but should be booked by calling Ikon on 0121 248 0708.
On 25 February, Eastside Projects welcome their latest exhibition, ‘Again, A Time Machine‘, featuring Jonathan Monk, Slavs and Tatars, Dora Garcia, The Happy Hypocrite, which is ongoing until 16 April.
‘Again, A Time Machine’ is part one of a five part touring exhibition from Book Works, allowing artists to play with words, creating work which begins to anticipate the past, forecast possible histories and re-visit alternative futures.
New commissions for Eastside Projects sees the start of a poster project by Jonathan Monk, the reimagining of a Polish–Iranian solidarity by Slavs and Tatars, readings of Dora Garcia’s All the Stories, artists’ talks, The Happy Hypocrite-Say What You See: a cycle of readings co-hosted by An Endless Supply and Maria Fusco, and a newspaper.
The exhibition comes with a string of events, starting with an artists talk from Jonathan Monk on the opening weekend;
Jonathan Monk, Book Talk: No. 4
26 February, 3–4.30pm, Free entry
In the spirit of ‘Curating the Library’ (founded by Moritz Küng at deSingel in 2003) Monk has been invited to select publications to become part of the Eastside Projects Library. Monk will discuss how each title informs his practice and his selections will be on display at Eastside Projects throughout ‘Again, A Time Machine’.
Check the website or join their Facebook page for more info on both.
Solihull Arts Complex are calling for local artists and designer makers to submit work for their second Allsorts Art Fair, happening June 2011.
Welcoming ‘allsorts’ of artwork, from textiles to jewellery, garden art to ceramics and photography to watercolours, they’re offering both professional and emerging artists the opportunity to exhibit and sell their work, with stalls available for £25 or £40 depending on requirements.
The deadline for submissions in 25 March, to find out more and download the application form, visit the website.
The latest artist to grace the walls of the We Are Birmingham Gallery is Tom Tebby, with this exhibition, Chop, opening 19 February.
Featuring new pieces and a selection of more familiar, reworked pieces, the exhibition will consist of detailed montages rendered across wooden panels and canvases.
Inspired by inner-city sprawl, discarded objects, architectural foliage and influenced by Avant Garde posters and decollage, the familiar and mundane are transformed into unexpected environments. Many of the works spread out like chaotic viruses and others dwell in a post-apocalyptic world where dereliction and organic mass have fused.
For more information, take a look at the Facebook event page, plus more of his work can be found on Flickr. The exhibition continues until 5 March.
