NEW ART WEST MIDLANDS SPECIAL EDITION
SPECIAL EDITION CELEBRATING NEW ART WEST MIDLANDS
Editor-in-chief: David O’Coy Editor: Kerry O’Coy kerry@fusedmagazine.com | @kerryfused Writers: Helen Calcutt, Marie Krispin, Kerry O’Coy, Stepahnie Potter, Helen Stallard. Front Cover: Jade Blackstock. In, in, in Content Image: Seaside by Megan Sheridan. BOTH for New Art West Midlands.
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NEW ART WEST MIDLANDS
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, 13 February – 17 May 2015 The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, 13 February – 17 May 2015 The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, 14 February – 31 May 2015 Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 31 January – 26 April 2015 Opening times vary newartwestmidlands.org | @NewArtWM New Art West Midlands returns this February to showcase the most talented and exciting emerging artists in the region. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts and Wolverhampton Art Gallery are this year joined for the first time by The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry, who together will present the four exhibitions that make up New Art West Midlands. So what can you see? Expect a heady mix of painting, sculpture, photography, installation, performance and video work. What’s more, plenty of the work is on sale, making this a great place for collectors to pick up affordable original art. New Art West Midlands is the idea of Turning Point West Midlands, the network which supports visual artists. Recent graduates from the region’s five art schools were invited to be part of New Art West Midlands: Birmingham City University, University of Worcester, Coventry University, University of Wolverhampton and Staffordshire University. The best thirty of these were selected by a panel of respected artists and academics, each nominee noted for the creativity and quality of their work. If you’re interested in seeing what’s new and what’s hot in the world of contemporary art, New Art West Midlands is a really good place to start.
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Image: Dotty by Jo Fursnam
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BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery once again devotes one of its major gallery spaces to New Art West Midlands. Audiences will not fail to spot a 6 foot sock monkey puppet created by Vicky Roden, plus large-scale animal hybrid sculptures by Jade Simpson and humanlike sculptures by Lisa Marie Williams that are both humorous and unsettling. We advise you to look out for work by Michael Carr, whose street map of Coventry references the city’s Ska heritage. There is installation by Adam Grüning and Reece Kennedy, light-boxes by James Turner, prints by Yasmin Rennie and vivid paintings by Jennifer Shufflebotham and Emily Sparkes. There will be video and performance art too, with new work by Emma Starkey and Sarah Thorley, the latter made in response to time spent working with the museum’s cleaning staff. We asked Lisa Beauchamp, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, for her take on New Art West Midlands 2015: Why does Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery consider New Art West Midlands to be so important? We have led on New Art West Midlands for three years now and I still love working on the show. We can provide opportunities for emerging artists, and long after the exhibition has closed we will maintain a relationship with the artists which will continue for years to come. New Art West Midlands is an important first rung on the ladder from art school to a professional career and we are proud to be a part of that. 08
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What should visitors look out for? At Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery expect to see stunning painting, a nod to the Coventry band The Specials, a replica Frieze Art Fair booth and giant hybrid animal sculptures. This will be our most ambitious New Art West Midlands yet.
Image: Preparing to Dive by Jennifer Shufflebotham
We’ve noticed a string of intriguing contemporary art exhibitions at Birmingham Museums lately. Can we expect to see more? You’re right! Since I started here in 2012, we’ve presented loads of quality contemporary work, including tapestries by the hugely popular Grayson Perry. In fact, alongside New Art West Midlands 2015, we have a major exhibition curated by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller called Love is Enough, which looks at artists William Morris and Andy Warhol. Visitors to both exhibitions will have a great day out. 09
BARBER INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS As well as devoting its Lady Barber Gallery solely to New Art West Midlands, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts will be shaking up its collection galleries, placing new works alongside those of historical importance to create interesting juxtapositions: Sevven Kucuk’s photographic still lifes echo Dutch painting from the 16th and 17th century, and Lucy Dore presents The Idol Project, a display of 36 calico dolls created in the likeness of 21st-century idols. Kathleen Fabre presents sculptures inspired by, and created from, inflatable bouyancy aids. Her work is joined by striking photographic prints by Alexandra Darby and Megan Sheridan, sculpture by Jodie Wingham and a performance and installation by Dan Auluk -The Lives of Others - which references the 2006 film of the same name. There is further sculpture by Glenys Shirley, who playfully questions art collection with classical and kitsch ceramic figurines; and a DIY natural history exhibit made from found materials by Jade Simpson. Sarah Beattie, Collections Assistant at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, talked about their exhibition: How well do the new contemporary artworks sit alongside your permanent collection of Old Masters? Some of the pieces integrate almost seamlessly within our collections such as Sevven Kucuk’s photography, which has obvious comparisons with our 17th-century Dutch still life paintings. Other works can at first seem a little more challenging - Kathleen Fabre’s series of sculptures What the Water Gave Me is spiky and there is an obvious contrast. However, when you look a little deeper, the themes that have motivated Kathleen and the other New Art West Midlands artists are often the same or very similar to those that have influenced artist for hundreds of years. What kind of response are you expecting from your visitors? Like all good art, New Art West Midlands provokes a very mixed response from our visitors. Some people absolutely love the contrast between the contemporary pieces and our Old Masters, while others are less keen. Our visitors have varied opinions on the different pieces and the exhibition as a whole. Whatever the reaction, we always get lots of 010
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Image: Sting in the Tail by Kathleen Fabre
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comments and feedback for the New Art West Midlands exhibitions and I think that is the most important thing. It’s a chance to encourage debate, discussion and new ideas. The Barber Institute is known for its collection of traditional art. Does being part of New Art West Midlands give you an opportunity to work in a new way? Curating New Art West Midlands is a very creative process. The works are so varied, with paintings, large sculptures, photography, calico dolls, even boiled sweets, that we have to think outside the box – or in this case the exhibition gallery! It’s the perfect chance to be innovative and original with how we display the pieces and to perhaps even challenge how our audiences view contemporary art. 011
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WOLVERHAMPTON ART GALLERY
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Wolverhampton Art Gallery bring together five New Art West Midlands artists for their 2015 exhibition, each working in a different medium.
Shijie Hai presents a graphic novel from his series Catsmountain, with each page enlarged to show the full complexity of his work. Also on display will be beautiful collages by Andrea Hannon and still life photographs by Sevven Kucuk which echo the classic Dutch painting tradition. Alongside the prints and collages will be a video installation by Camilla Searle looking at environmental concerns of the future. The exhibition revolves around a central sculpture by Jessica Holt, an intricate work made of solid rock and fine steel. Exhibitions Curator Neus Miro gives her insight into New Art West Midlands: Why does Wolverhampton Art Gallery put emphasis on new and emerging artists? Wolverhampton Art Gallery is an arts institution at the core of the West Midlands and as such we are proud to be involved with the production of new work – it is a defining feature of who we are! We are deeply interested in working with our artistic community but we find that our audiences respond well to contemporary art. They often perceive it as being closer to their interests and experiences.
What can audiences expect from your New Art West Midlands exhibition? We have number of works in a variety of media, so visitors can see photography, sculpture, video work and even a graphic novel. The pieces don’t share a theme as such, but they do complement each other in quite surprising ways. Some of the works explicitly tell the viewer a story, for example, whereas in others the story is delicately veiled, waiting to be decoded by the visitor. We also have some extremely delicate pieces alongside more robust and visually arresting works, which we hope will be an inspiring experience for visitors. Are there any themes or trends you can see emerging in New Art West Midlands 2015? I have noticed an interesting and renewed approach towards collage, both in images and in sculptural objects. The result is often surprising as different realities manage to collide and cohabit in one single work harmoniously. Image: Camilla Searle, Untitled.
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THE HERBERT ART GALLERY & MUSEUM The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum joins New Art West Midlands for the first time in 2015. Its exhibition includes a series of photo collage works by Joanna Fursman, the theme continuing with a 3D collage installation by Andrea Hannon. Amanda Pearce’s installation is inspired by time spent as artist-in-residence at Birmingham’s Pen Museum. Visitors can expect to see new video work by Jakub Ceglarz and Josh Hazell plus Jade Blackstock’s performance work and paintings by Emily Sparkes inspired by Queer culture. Stark still-life photography by Sevven Kucuk contrasts with Megan Sheridan’s photographs of the British at leisure in Birmingham and at English seaside resorts. Distorted screen prints by Jodie Wingham, intricate drawling-based sculpture by Carole Sherman and intriguing human-like sculpture by Lisa Marie Williams make up the presentation. 014
We asked Rosie Addenbrooke, Senior Exhibitions and Events Officer at The Herbert, why she wanted to get involved with New Art West Midlands:
Image: Fish and Chips, Megan Sheridan
So Rosie, why devote such a huge show to new artists? It’s all about providing a public space where emerging artists can get their work seen and talked about. New Art West Midlands gives artists a chance to find out how people react to their work, and lets them move on to the next stage of their career. Many haven’t exhibited in a major gallery before, and they are given help in presenting and talking about their work, so that audiences have the best chance of understanding and engaging with it. How well will New Art West Midlands sit alongside your permanent collection? There are lots of interesting parallels to be made. At the core of the Herbert’s art collection is the theme of British Life and Landscape – this was a very deliberate choice of the gallery’s first art director. Inevitably, New Art West Midlands artists respond to living in Britain today and so we see the same ideas revisited through the centuries. Some of the works show scenes of people living their everyday lives, and some represent the history or mapping of a particular location, while others convey a more general sense of anxiety about today’s world. Are there any themes or trends that you see emerging in contemporary art? There’s a wide variety of media and approaches used by the New Art West Midlands 2015 artists, including photography and film, painting and drawing, found materials and collage. In curating the exhibition I’ve become aware of themes that link many of the works, like identity, the human condition, surveillance and fragmentation – some of these themes are universal and have been explored by artists for centuries, and others feel far more specific to the 21st century. There are serious pieces on display, but there’s also a great deal of humour and playfulness running through the exhibition. 015
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR AT NEW ART WEST MIDLANDS With thirty artists on show, this is the largest New Art West Midlands to date. Here we highlight some of the bright young things to be part of the 2015 exhibition.
LUCY DORE Lucy Dore, from Birmingham City University, carried out a strawpoll social media survey where she asked friends and family to tell her about their personal idol. A few months later she emerged with 35 handmade dolls, each referencing one of the idols from the list. They are a diverse group, including Charles Darwin, Margot Fonteyn – and Bill and Ted. Dore made the dolls herself using calico before embellishing with embroidery to make each one unique. Image: Grace Jones (left) & Grayson Perry (right) 016
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JADE SIMPSON Staffordshire University graduate, Jade Simpson makes curious sculptures from cardboard, wood, fabric and fur. Her animalistic creations are akin to the specimens you might find in a natural history museum collection, but with a theatrical edge. Image: Crowbear
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SHIJIE HAI Star illustrator and Birmingham City University graduate Shijie Hai makes graphic novels and artist’s books, including Catsmountain, which is on display at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. It is full of evocative stories with beautifully depicted feelings of anxiety and loneliness. Image: Catsmountain
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ALEXANDRA DARBY Did you know that chryosophia means a fear of the colour orange? Alexandra Darby, a University of Wolverhampton graduate, devotes a series of photographs to the subject and in so doing has blurred the lines between fine art and fashion photography. Possibly the most surreal of all the New Art West Midlands 2015 entries. Image: Capital C in Chrysophobia 020
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MICHAEL CARR Coventry University graduate Michael Carr takes inspiration from the changing ways in which people listen to music, from the old days of record players to today’s virtual playlists. A Message to you Rudy is an inked silhouette of Lynval Golding from Ska band The Specials transposed onto a street map of Coventry. It neatly referencing the musical heritage of the Ska revival associated with the city and the wider West Midlands. Image: Message to You Rudy
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JADE BLACKSTOCK University of Worcester graduate Jade Blackstock is part of the new generation of performance artists. Her video In, In, In sees her dress totally in white whilst being bombarded with white liquid foam, part of her ongoing interest into racial politics. Image: In, In, In 024
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GLENYS SHIRLEY Staffordshire University graduate Glenys Shirley has an on-going fascination with ceramics, particularly discarded figurines of wildlife, gentlemen and ladies that she picks up from charity shops around Stoke-on-Trent. She reinvents her findings to give them new life, such as the painted ceramic lady seeming to slope off a cheap table on which she has been placed. You can find Glenys’ work at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. Image: Conspiracy to undermine II
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REECE KENNEDY Reece Kennedy came up with a novel installation for New Art West Midlands: a replica of a stand for the worldfamous Frieze Art Fair, complete with backroom full of piled up artworks. The Coventry University graduate has recently opened his own print works in Birmingham and he’s made a pamphlet to accompany his artwork. Definitely a young talent to watch. Image: Greatness Engine Future Prospectus by Reece Kennedy
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W SEVVEN KUCUK Sevven Kucuk takes inspiration from 17th-century still life paintings to create exquisite contemporary portraits. The Birmingham City University graduate uses c-type photography to capture feeting moments in time, such as the two floating bubbles in Brevity of Life.
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Image: Beauty
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WILL SHANNON:
THE CLOSET CRAFTSMAN 14 February – 19 April First Floor Gallery, mac 11am – 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday Free Multi-talented artist Will Shannon’s exhibition The Closet Craftsman launches the Craftspace Curates season at mac. Combining the role of designer, maker, manufacturer and architect Shannon creates alternative and mobile workspaces. Resonating with the city’s heritage as a place for trade and making things the exhibition includes the newly commissioned Market Factory piece. Shannon subverts the idea of a traditional market stall and reimagines it as a space in which to fuse making and selling. Using only simple hand tools Shannon goes back to basics using traditional 032
joinery techniques and hand skills to craft beautiful limited edition chairs for sale. The exhibition features a continuous and related series of 6 works made over seven years. “Through my work I intend to promote conversation about the social issues around the designing and making of things.” Comments Shannon. “Addressing the challenge of being creative in urban environments, each artwork is an imagined making space and model workshop for absent craftsmen.” For the realisation of each model making space, Shannon invents a fictional narrative in which he assumes a character and teaches himself a new skill. In ‘Kiln House’ he becomes a potter designing a functional mobile workshop in which he produced the tiles used on the workshop roof, the light shade and other fixtures from local clay. In Cabinet Maker (pictured), a bicycle is adapted to become a portable workshop equipped with tools for producing papier mache furniture. The idea of making furniture insitu often using local or discarded materials reduces the amount of energy used and engages directly with the user.
his gallery installations, the products made are displayed alongside the workspaces as though the craftsman has just stepped away from completing the process. “By setting creative challenges and teaching himself new skills, Shannon champions the idea of having a go, blurring the boundaries, making mistakes and re-writing the rules. His propositions raise questions and provoke us to think about how, where and why things are made.” Deirdre Figueiredo, Director, Craftspace. The Craftspace Curates season continues at mac until Spring 2016 and will encourage audiences to experience the breadth creativity associated with contemporary craft and making through a series of commissions and events, which include live performance, film, digital media and public art. EVENT: Tour of the Closet Craftsman 24 March, 7pm, First Floor Gallery. Free - booking essential. Join the artist and curator Emma Daker for a tour of the exhibition, and discussion around the recurring themes in the artist’s work. Image credit: The Cabinet Maker, 2010. photo courtesy Will Shannon
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DAILY LOVEMAKING 4 February – 19 April 2015 Ikon Gallery
Considered to be one of the most exciting artists of his generation artist Nástio Mosquito brings his first solo exhibition Daily Lovemaking to Ikon. A former director and cameraman Mosquito uses a combination of film, music, theatrical performance and video installation in his work. Mosquito often takes center stage in his work using mimicry and characters such as Nástia, a know-it-all Russian engendered by the Cold War. He uses the distance between his real identity and his characters to express his observations on the folly of modern day life. He also raises concerns about African politics, especially in Angola using work such as 3 Continents (Europe, America, Africa) (2010), to address the issue of the nouveau riche stumbling into situations they don’t really understand. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication which features text by the independent curator, writer and artist Gaby Ngcobo. SP
Nastivicious, Acts, 2012, video, 1217’,© Nastivicious, courtesy the artist and Ikon
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DISRUPTED
14 March – 3 May mac, Arena Gallery & public spaces Free admission Directly responding to and interacting with the arts centre venue, the building and its audiences Disrupted is a group exhibition that has been conceived for mac. The exhibition brings together established and emerging artists working in the realm of Disability Arts, including the Swedish performance artist Anna Berntdson, London-based artist and activist The Vacuum Cleaner, and up and coming sculptor Anna Smith from Wolverhampton. The artworks and installations will invite visitors to experience the ‘Other’ - that which is different and unfamiliar, often remaining unseen in our day-to-day lives - and to engage with it in a familiar space. Curated by Noëmi Lakmaier during her year-long residency at mac, the exhibition explores the sense of awkwardness such encounters can bring, and the unique experiences and unexpected insights that can emerge from them. Image Credit: Anna Smith, Swing (2014), courtesy the artist.
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FOUND
30 January - 3 May The New Art Gallery Walsall FOUND brings together seven contemporary artists who work with found images to explore themes of loss, memory and mass cultural experience. By transforming, cutting, embellishing and re-working visual material sourced from the internet, flea markets, magazines and discarded personal collections, the artists enter into the histories and narratives present in strangers’ images. Drawing attention to our relentless consumption and self-projection of visual information in a digital age, the selected works by Paul Chiappe, Ruth Claxton, Julie Cockburn, Ellen Gallagher, Vesna Pavlović, Erik Kessels and John Stezaker reverberate and bring into question the feeling of being suffocated and framed by representations of other people’s lives, tastes and experiences. The exhibition will include six new works specially commissioned by The New Art Gallery Walsall. Image credit: Paul Chiappe, Untitled 48, 2010, Pencil on paper. Copyright the artist and CARSLAW St* Lukes.
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AK DOLVEN PLEASE RETURN 4 February – 19 April Ikon Gallery
Please Return is the latest exhibition by Norwegian artist AK Dolven. 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. Balke’s work often featured humans unable to control the world around them and thus victims of circumstance, which he often represented as small figures on the landscape or in boats tossed around in rough seas. However while Dolven shares her fellow countryman’s world view, her artwork is more philosophical, dealing with the nature of perception and the subconscious functioning of memory and emotions. The exhibition features artwork such as selfportrait Berlin February 1989 - Lofoten August 2009 (2010) an 8mm film on video, Vertical on my own (2011), shot on 16mm, film and a series of paintings which allude to Balke through their medium of colour layered on to aluminium panels with a heavy focus on people and surviving rather than them being dominated by the elements. SP Image Credit: please return (2014), Installation photograph, Courtesy John Fallon.
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JOHN AKOMFRAH:
THE UNFINISHED CONVERSATION Until 7 March Mead Gallery In this immersive multi-layered video installation, British artist, film-maker and writer John Akomfrah investigates notions of cultural, ethnic and personal identity through the personal archive of the acclaimed cultural theorist and sociologist Stuart Hall. Stuart McPhail Hall (1932-2014) arrived in Britain from Jamaica as a student in 1951 and, by 1968, had become a key architect of cultural studies and one of Britain’s foremost public intellectuals. Hall was a founder of the influential New Left Review in the 1950s; he joined the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham University in 1964, and was director of the Centre from 1968 until 1979. Hall believed identity and ethnicity not to be fixed, but to be the subject of an ‘ever-unfinished conversation’. In The Unfinished Conversation, Akomfrah interweaves archive footage of Hall with news footage from the 1960s and 1970s, all overlaid with a stunning soundtrack that incorporates the writings of William Blake, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf and Mervyn Peake as well as Jazz 040 and Gospel music.
Image credits: The Unfinished Conversation, 2012. Three-screen installation, HD video, colour, sound, 4500 min. Courtesy the artist and Carroll Fletcher.
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TRANSITION ARTS Facebook Transition Arts
Transition Arts is a new pop up gallery in Birmingham, fronted by The Dark Horse (Alcester Road, Moseley), showcasing some of the region’s finest art work, as well as providing a platform for the original works of local artist and painter Ian Muir. The project gallery is stapled by his work, and is the brain child of himself and his partner Clare Fell. I’ve never been keen on the word ‘pop up’ or generally anything associated with it. But Transition works differently. The concept for the gallery has been in the making for seven years. An insight alone into how much value they place on longevity. The feel is incredibly modern, at the same time primitive and almost holistic – stripped back walls, bare floors, bursts of colour. The art itself (and the philosophy behind the whole project) draws on The Golden era, the Renaissance, or Rinascimento from rinascere “to be reborn”. Everything seems to be about creation, re-creating - transitioning from one thing to another. At the same time everything is rooted in a belief in the process. A method which creates something that lasts. There’s no buying in at Transition Arts. Both Ian and Clare make the canvases themselves, from the structure and alignment of the frames, to the stretching of linen or canvas to the gelatine wash, and the oil-based primer which is then left for two months or more. And this is all before the painting or drawing begins. 042
“Crafting your own material inspires you to really craft your art. It leads to great things. It’s different to just deciding to get up one day and paint something. It’s a developing idea that starts with the base, and finishes with the work.” Although there’s a lot that works from the ground up, the word transition couldn’t be more apt. As an artist Ian is always moving from one thing to another - “As a gallery we’re always travelling. And the art itself also. Light and dark, you know transitions in shade.” The art work is more than sheer manipulation of colour lifted to a variety of mediums such as oil on canvas, ink and prints. There’s expression yes, grafted into some impressively large, detailed works that are as unsettling as they are honest. I’m reminded of Goya in many ways, there’s a great deal of troubling imagery. But there’s also humanity. The ink work is astounding, and true to the Transition way, been in the making for seven years before finally hung in the gallery. And it is pretty impressive. But art doesn’t just have to be something transposed onto paper or canvas. “It can be anything that grabs you,” says Clare. “From a homeless man asleep on the bench, to a pile of bones. Taking junk and making it into funk.” There’s a huge bone installation in the corner of the room, which rather than celebrating death, seems to have cause for life.
“Other countries openly honour the dead this way. Why can’t we?” Transition are open to travel, circulating their work and methods wherever anyone will have them. And they’re certainly not afraid of things that take time. But like all fine artists, their work needs a home. “We are looking for a permanent venue. Somewhere we can showcase our work permanently alongside resident artists. Ideally we’d like to carry on touring, set up in run-down buildings, or front venues like this one. But manage it all from one base. A place to go back to when it’s time to move on.” Any open space with great light would work. Transition seem to be able to take space and material and turn it into something you want to look at, or step inside of. They welcome other artists from all walks, working in any medium to showcase their work “We’re happy to display jewellery, or poetry. Anything that we think is representative of quality.” There’s a great deal of art in the world, but more and more the value in the process of hard graft is being undermined by the general consensus that time simply isn’t available to us. Clare and Ian and here to tell you that it is, and if there’s one thing you do with it this year its check them out. HC 043
THEATRE
SPRING SEASON AT THE HIPPODROME Booking line: 0844 338 5000 birminghamhippodrome.com
With a packed programme of events for 2015, that includes Matthew Bourne’s adaptation of Edward Scissorhands to Shrek the Musical, the wonderfully diverse range of productions at the city’s biggest theatre has something for everyone. We’ve picked our highlights... CIRKOPLIS 25 - 28 March Tickets £12-£30 Following their acclaimed visit three years ago with their energetic urban production iD, Canada based Cirque Éloize return to Birmingham Hippodrome with Cirkopolis (pictured) a show combining the worlds of circus, dance and theatre. Set in the heart of a stern and imposing factory-city it features 12 acrobats and performers, inventive stage design accompanied by an original musical score and video projections. A leader in the world of contemporary circus, Cirque Éloize has been creating moving performances filled with magic and emotions since 1993. BEAUTIFUL THING 30 March - 11 April Tickets £30 This March Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Centre Studio will be the setting for Nikolai Foster’s celebrated anniversary production of Jonathan Harvey’s play Beautiful Thing, a glorious urban love story between two young men set on an inner city housing estate. It tells the story of teenager 046
Jamie’s relationship with classmate and neighbour, Ste. Together the two boys find comedy, warmth and the music of Mama Cass through their loud-mouthed next door neighbour Leah. Beautiful Thing stars multi-award winning actress Charlie Brooks, (‘Janine Butcher’ in EastEnders), Thomas Law, (Eastenders,The World’s End), Sam Jackson, (Skins, Kes) and Gerard McCarthy (The Fall, Hollyoaks). CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME 26 May – 6 June Tickets £17.50-£42.50 Drama returns to Birmingham Hippodrome’s main stage with the National Theatre’s thrilling new stage play Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Based on the awardwinning novel by Mark Haddon, this acclaimed production won an incredible seven Olivier awards in 2013 including Best New Play, Best Director, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design. It also won the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre and has been seen by over 200,000 people during its run in the West End. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tells the story of 15 year old Christopher. He has an extraordinary brain, and is exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world. 047
THEATRE
THE REP SEASON The Rep offers a stellar season of events with a wealth of top names appearing in its productions. With the acclaimed play The Kings Speech, starring Jason Donovan and Raymond Coulthard, to the perfectly cast comedy of Jeeves and Wooster with the Peep Show’s Robert Webb and Christopher Ryan (The Young Ones, Absolutely Fabulous) there is a packed programme. HARVEY 6 – 21 February £12.50 to £35 Elwood P. Dowd has only one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a sixfoot tall, invisible rabbit, named Harvey. This hilarious comedy, immortalised in the 1950 classic film opens in Birmingham prior to a short tour and a West End run. Starring James Dreyfus and Maureen Lipman. A SUMMER IN THE SOUTH 15 February £12.50 – £25 A Summer In The South is a tribute to Colette, one of France’s greatest writers. Dark and disturbing stories mix with colourful and amusing ones to create a haunting mosaic of prose and dramatised passages, brilliantly brought to life by acclaimed actors Siân Phillips and Robert Powell. Set against the Paris of la belle époque and World War I, astonishing characters come alive onstage, including a spider who drinks hot chocolate with Colette’s mother; Alain, with his strange affection for his cat, Saha; and Missy with her poodle-hair moustache.
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Top: Jeeves and Wooster Middle: The King’s Speech (image by Hugo Glendinning) Bottom: All My Sons (image by Jonathan Keenan)
THE HONEY MAN 16 – 21 February £10-£12 In a derelict cottage on the grounds of an English manor house, ageing Caribbean recluse, Honey Man, tries in vain to save his colony of bees. His life is set to change when fiery teenaged heiress Misty charges into his world and challenges everything he knows. Acclaimed Birmingham writer and actor Tyrone Huggins plays the title role in this compelling play featuring innovative digital projection and an atmospheric soundscape. THE KING’S SPEECH 25 February – 7 March £12.50 – £35 The acclaimed play that inspired the Oscar-winning film, starring Jason Donovan (Festen, Sweeney Todd) as Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue and Raymond Coulthard (Mr Selfridge, Hotel Babylon) as King George VI. The true and heart-warming story of one man’s struggle to overcome his personal
affliction and, in his country’s darkest hour, deliver the now iconic speech broadcast across the globe to inspire his people. JEEVES AND WOOSTER 9 - 14 March £7 – £35 This Olivier Awardwinning West End comedy stars Robert Webb (Peep Show, That Mitchell and Webb Look) as Bertie Wooster and Christopher Ryan (The Young Ones, Absolutely Fabulous) as Seppings. When a country house weekend takes a turn for the worse, foppish fool Bertie Wooster is unwittingly called on to play matchmaker, but also to steal a silver cow creamer from Totleigh Towers. Naturally, his ever dependable valet Jeeves is there to prevent Bertie from making a fool of himself in front of a cast of Wodehouse’s finest characters.
REP following four sold-out seasons in London’s Hyde Park Winter Wonderland and a sold-out 2014 tour. Presenting the world’s most dangerous circus act live on stage – the legendary Globe of Death, and a troupe of over thirty jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and death-defying stunt men and the award-winning clown, Tweedy.
ALL MY SONS 24 - 28 March £7 – £35 It is 1947 and Joe and Kate Keller, an allAmerican couple, are living with the ghosts of World War II. Joe is a successful businessman, a loving family man and a pillar of the community. He is a partner in a machine shop building fighter plane parts. Joe and Kate’s happiness is clouded by one thing – their son is missing in action, presumed dead by all but his mother … CIRQUE BERSERK Arthur Miller’s play is a 19 – 22 March searing investigation of £18.50–£30 honesty, guilt and the Britain’s favourite corrupting power of circus comes to The greed.
PENELOPE RETOLD 1 - 2 April £10 – £12 An epic, heartbreaking and fiercely playful tale of love, loneliness and the need to be free, set in Ithaca – island paradise and home to Penelope (pictured top right). She’s married to a world famous war hero and she’s had enough of waiting for him all alone at home. Made with input from soldiers and military spouses, Penelope RETOLD is an poignant and irreverent collision of classic myth and contemporary rage, which features poetry, songs, comedy and YouTube clips. Writer and performer Caroline Horton is an associate artist of The REP, Olivier Award-nominee and was named The Stage’s Best Solo Performer. FEED THE BEAST 16 April - 2 May £12 – £20 This world premiere is a fiercely funny look at the rocky relations between our press and politicians in a world of spindoctors and Leveson Inquiries, from the award-winning writer of Damages, Whipping It Up, Roaring Trade and the highly-acclaimed Sherlock and Doctor Who. Michael is moving into Number 10 Downing Street and there will be no charm offensives with this Prime Minister. But when his family’s private life looks set to be the next big story, Michael seeks help from a press secretary who advises, “Feed the beast before it turns on you”. Can Michael keep politics centre stage or will he become the story himself?
REBECCA 27 April - 2 May £7 – £35 A spellbinding new production of Daphne du Maurier’s masterpiece which conjures Cornish romance and theatrical magic, from the world-renowned theatre company Kneehigh. Following the mysterious death of his first wife, Maxim de Winter returns to Manderley with his new young bride. Surrounded by memories of the glamorous Rebecca, the new Mrs De Winter is consumed by jealousy. She sets out to uncover the secrets of the house and a past fiercely guarded by the sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers, but soon finds that all is not what it seems in Manderley… CHEWING THE FAT 14 – 16 May £12 Selina (a current member of the REP Foundry) invites you to her own version of a midnight feast: somewhere between the confessions made over coffee at weight watchers, and the sloppy drunken storytelling that accompanies that 3am kebab. An infusion of storytelling, stand-up, live art, food fight and theatre, this is a vibrant and extremely open portrayal of life-long issues with weight. Ticket price includes a snack! THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE 15 - 30 May £7 – £35 Little Voice spends her days alone in her bedroom. Surrounded by her late father’s records she escapes her overbearing mother, Mari and sings along to the extraordinary voices of Judy Garland, Billie Holiday and breathless tones of Marilyn Monroe … and her world is transformed. When local talent agent Ray Say, Mari’s latest boyfriend, overhears her he sees his chance for the high-life. Persuaded by the tacky agent and pushed by Mari, a nervous Little Voice blasts out Bassey – but will she ever have the courage to find her own voice? 051
ORIGINS SEASON
Library of Birmingham libraryofbirmingham.com | @libraryofbham There’s a whole host of new things to see and do in the Midlands this spring and what better place to start than with the Library of Birmingham’s new Origins Season. Spring 2015 sees the Library continue its successful cultural programme with a range of events and exhibitions centred on the theme of origins. Running until April events will look at how the past, present and future of the Midlands are inextricably linked from dinosaur bones through to the growth of communities and language in the present day. Each exhibition will be varied and includes Stones and Bones, Survivors of the Ice Age with Professor Alice Roberts through to A Cartoon History of Here. STONES AND BONES: DISCOVERING 600 MILLION YEARS OF MIDLANDS HISTORY 13 February –17 May Free Want to travel through time but don’t have a Tardis? Well the Library of Birmingham in partnership with the Lapworth Museum of Geology at the University of Birmingham has the next best thing with Stones and Bones. The exhibition will take visitors back in time to when the Midlands was quite literally another world 600 million years ago. Visitors will learn about the different climates and creatures that lived in the area such as dinosaurs, woolly mammoths and even rhinos and lions. It will also take a look at how local geologists and scientists uncovered the region’s past and how their discoveries have shaped the Midlands both past and present. 052
Featuring a wealth of material from the Library’s archive, heritage and photography collections as well as bones and fossils, Stones and Bones is also perfect for kids of all ages with interactive workshops, family events and talks making it a great day out for all the family. SURVIVORS OF THE ICE AGE, WITH PROFESSOR ALICE ROBERTS 16 February 2015, 2-3pm Tickets: £1 children, £3 adults If Stones and Bones has whet your appetite for all things science and history then don’t miss this opportunity to join Dr Alice Roberts, one of the countries favourite scientific historians and well known TV personality, to learn more about the ice age. Survivors of the Ice Age will see Dr Roberts looking at the animals which connect our world here in the Midlands with the frozen wilderness of the ice age. Like Stones and Bones this is a perfect event for both adults and children as Dr Roberts is skilled at taking complex ideas and explaining them to both young and old. IAN MCMILLAN & TONY HUSBAND: A CARTOON HISTORY OF HERE 24 February, 7–8.30pm Tickets: £10 If all that science and thinking is a bit too much for you then how about a unique mix of comedy, cartoons, poetry and improv instead. A Cartoon History of Here includes a live cartoon created by the Yorkshire poet, broadcaster and comedian Ian McMillan and cartoonist of the year Tony Husband with help from the audience. The two men along will be reflecting upon local stories and legends from the Midlands with added poetry and cartoons. Expect a fast flowing, rapid rafting, off the cuff and memorable adventure. SP 053
ON GOING EXHIBITIONS
SIKANDER PERVEZ Until 19 April New Art Gallery Walsall
RECORDING BRITAIN Until 26 April The Herbert
Sikander Pervez transforms mundane objects such as chairs, walls and plinths into poetic visual forms by challenging our perceptions of the usual functions associated with them. He will be creating a brand new sculptural installation for his first solo exhibition since graduating from Staffordshire University.
In the winter of 1939 an extraordinary art project was begun. Beneath the spectres of invasion and aerial bombing, the Scheme for Recording the Changing Face of Britain rapidly commissioned artists to paint ‘places and buildings of characteristic national interest’. The resulting collection of over 1500 paintings created a remarkable, yet highly selective, snapshot of a fastchanging country.
Sikander was selected from New Art West Midlands 2014, the best of the graduates from West Midlands Universities for this significant development opportunity.
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Recording Britain features many beautiful watercolours by prolific artists such as John Piper and Kenneth Rowntree, along with a host of lesser-known contributors.
FEBRUARY
EXHIBITION Until 11 April Birmingham Show Eastside Projects ‘Birmingham Show’ is an exhibition connecting gaps, distances and potentials of artists who have lived, worked or studied within the city. Three key questions underpin the exhibition making – ‘What is the art of Birmingham?’ ‘Is there an accent to Birmingham’s art making?’ and ‘How is Birmingham useful for the production of art?’ By displaying a set of works that wouldn’t otherwise be experienced together, curators Gavin Wade and Ruth Claxton hope to make visible coexisting and overlapping 056
objects, processes, politics, relationships and scenes emanating from Birmingham. 35 artists spanning a wealth of forms and disciplines linked to the city help answer the questions and include: Mohammed Ali, Nicholas Bullen, Sofia Hulten (pictured left) Roger Hiorns, Idris Khan, Karin Kihlberg & Reuben Henry, Joanne Masding, Nigel Prince, Su Richardson, and Antonio Roberts.
EXHIBITION February – March Phil Hession – in residence Grand Union Visual artist Phil Hession undertakes a 6-week residency at Grand Union. His practice explores the oral traditions of
song and storytelling, and is conducted predominantly through social and cultural exchanges, often taking the form of interviews or gatherings. These exchanges involve the documentation and archiving of song and story, and include teaching traditional Irish song, and performing songs within public spaces. EXHIBITION 6 February - 26 April Revolutionising Fashion Print Bay, Beige Gallery, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts The frivolous and extravagant fashions of the Ancien Régime were brought to a swift and bloody end at the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. In the ensuing years, a taste for simpler, classically inspired clothing migrated across from Revolutionary France into Britain. This display explores the depiction of fashionable dress in an array of elegant 18th- and early 19th-century British miniatures by the likes
of Richard Cosway, George Engleheart and John Smart. On loan from two outstanding private collections, these delicate little paintings are complemented by prints and drawings from the Barber’s own collection.
TALK 12 February Type Talks: Gordon Young Birmingham City University, P350 Lecture Theatre, Parkside Building, 5 Cardigan Street, Birmingham B4 7BD. 5.30pm, Free Tickets are free must be booked at typographichub.org Join visual artist Gordon Young for one of the popular Type Talk events held monthly at
BCU’s new Parkside campus. As the UK’s foremost typographic city Birmingham’s claim to typographic fame does not simply lie with Baskerville. For three centuries the spirit of this typographic mastermind has touched generations of the city’s printers, educators and designers. Type Talks offers a series of typography, print, and lettering craft-focused talks organised by The Typographic Hub. (See other events in March & April).
observations and scandalous one-liners as Jo Caulfield shares her opinions on everything from women who always pick the wrong partner and men who continually quote gangster films, to families arguing on trains and the growth of passive-aggressive corporate friendliness. MUSIC 14 February Gruff Rhys Hare & Hounds Gruff performs his album American Interior Live.
TALK 17 February Herbert Illuminations: Women Factory Workers in the Second World War Herbert 12.30pm – 1.30pm, Free During the Second World War women were recruited on a large scale to meet the labour COMEDY shortage created by men 13 February going to war. Coventry’s Jo Caulfield: major role in industry Uninformed Opinions at the time meant that mac large numbers of women 8pm, Tickets £14 (£12) were engaged in war Everyone has an work in factories in the opinion…unfortunately! city. This talk, with the Expect razor-sharp 057
Herbert’s Charlene Price, will explore how women were recruited into the factories in Coventry, their pay and working conditions, how their work was balanced with home life and what happened to the factory workers at the end of the war. COMEDY 20 February Simon Amstell Town Hall, Birmingham With intense vulnerability and troubling honesty, Amstell explores freedom, joy, love, death, adventure, art, peace, sex, regret, success, eating, suffering, dreaming, healing, forgiving and other areas.
MUSIC 20 February Sleaford Mods Hare & Hounds 058
WORKSHOP 21 February Coventry Collages with Laura Oldfield Ford Herbert Workshop 1: 10.30am -12.30pm, Workshop 2: 2.00pm - 4.00pm, Free This is a fantastic opportunity to work with Laura Oldfield Ford, exhibiting artist from the gallery’s Recording Britain exhibition. Families will be invited to explore the architecture of our everyday life, homes, shops, schools, parks and streets. Using drawing and collage, participants will create artworks to take home about how we might want our built environment to look in the future. Please call 02476 237521 or go to www. theherbert.org to book. EXHIBITION 21 February – 3 April Mat Jenner: Dreams Time Free Grand Union Mat Jenner presents new works alongside his on-going project Foam. Jenner’s practice is grounded
in collage, collection, distribution and display. Foam consists of a mass collection of commissioned one-off 12” dub plate records by 115 contemporary artists. “Each record is unique; they can only be listened to in situ within Grand Union’s physical location. They are not replicated, broadcast or digitally disseminated.”
Newly commissioned contributing artists include Heather Philipson, Julia Crabtree and Will Evans, Tris Vonna-Mitchel, Emma Hart, Maia Conran, Holly Antrum and Phil Hession. A full list of artists and works available within Foam can be found at www.ffooaamm.org. A series of live events and talks accompanies the exhibition.
THEATRE 25 - 28 February The Recruit AE Harris The Recruit is a new farcical comedy about the world of recruitment consultancy. The graphs all have lines going up and employment is at an all time high. Everything is going well at Elite Recruitment Solutions (because, at ERS, you can get the staff). But something is not quite right. It soon becomes clear that there is a sinister edge to ERS. And indeed to their rival company, the Enhanced Employment Agency.
contemporary art by practitioners from across the UK. Following a call for entries the exhibits were selected by a panel of judges to ensure the quality, variety and interest of each work on display. The exhibition will also feature a number of works by guest artist Pete Monaghan. The exhibition will be opened by Clive Beardsmore, Benefactor of the New Art Gallery Walsall, on Thursday 26 February. Most works of art are available to purchase through the RBSA Gallery.
in-Association John Woolrich and soprano Mary Wiegold. EVENT 28 February TEDX WARWICK Warwick Arts Centre £15, 10.30-6pm The theme of TEDxWarwick is Anthropocene - The Age of Man. The day will highlight individuals who have revolutionised attitudes and approaches in the sceinces, humanities and art.
COMEDY 27 February Richard Herring: Lord of the Dance Settee The Slade Rooms MUSIC 27 February The Songbook CBSO Centre A rare opportunity to hear a hand-picked selection EXHIBITION 25 February - 28 March of 17 songs for soprano and small ensemble, Open all media commissioned over a Exhibition ten year period from the RBSA Gallery The RBSA Gallery’s first late 1980s by composer/ open of 2015 showcases BCMG Artist 059
MARCH Booking is required via 02476 2375221 or www.theherbert.org.
MUSIC 13 March The Charlatans The Civic Hall COMEDY 1 March Alun Cochrane The Slade Rooms TALK 3 March The Life and Loves of Queen Bess: Elizabeth I in the Coventry History Centre Archives Herbert 1.00pm – 2.15pm, £10 A special opportunity to see original documents from the Coventry Borough Archive related to Elizabeth I including one with her famous signature. Coventry History Centre holds an extraordinary collection of historical documents and this event will showcase some these rarely seen gems, presented and discussed by leading experts.
MUSIC 11 March 2015 Royal Blood The Civic Hall TALK 12 March Type Talks: Ewan Clayton Birmingham City University, P350 Lecture Theatre 5.30pm, Free Calligrapher Ewan Clayton takes this session on Typography at Parkside (see earlier entry for further details).
MUSIC 12 March Steel Panther The Civic Halls
FESTIVAL 16 - 22 March Arts & Science Festival University of Birmingham’s Edgbaston campus Free The University of Birmingham’s Art & Science Festival will return for its third year in 2015. Running Themed ‘Sight and Sound’, this year’s festival programme showcases ideas, research and collaboration at the University through talks, exhibitions, performances, workshops and screenings. From an audio-visual history of the universe to a wildlife hunt on campus, there’s something for everyone.
TALK 17 March Herbert Illumination: Recording Britain Curators Talk Herbert 12.30pm – 1.30pm, Free Join Curator Gill Saunders from the V&A for an insight into the Recording Britain exhibition. She will also share knowledge about the project which created the work on display, and an introduction to postwar art. WORKSHOP 21 March Recording Coventry Photography 11am – 3pm, Free Herbert Led by New Art West Midlands artist Megan Sheridan this workshop will explore the principles of street photography and include time to go out and take shots on the day. Booking is required. Call 02476 237521 or go to www.theherbert.org.
COMEDY 21 March Gina Yashere mac Multi-award winning Gina Yashere is back in the UK with her biggest tour to date! From her disappointment at being diagnosed with sleep apnoea despite losing over 5 stone in weight, to being coughed on, stared at and followed in China, to finding herself in a brothel in Singapore, Gina has plenty of stories to tell!
WORKSHOP 22 March & 29 March The Mee Club – Workshop Herbert 2pm – 4pm, Free Discover more about real life storytelling at this workshop led by Cat Weatherill, and learn the skills needed to take part in a storytelling event. There will be guest slots in The Mee Club on 29 March to share your own tales with a live audience. www.themeeclub.com Booking is required. Call 02476 237521 or go to www.theherbert.org
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APRIL ART 3 April Grand Union 5th Birthday Grand Union 7pm – late, Free To celebrate Grand Union’s 5th birthday, and to close Mat Jenner’s Dreams Time Free exhibition, the gallery will host an evening of one-off live sonic performances.
MUSIC 8 April Superfood Rainbow WORKSHOP 11 April Sketch Coventry Herbert 10.00am - 3.30pm, Free Meet in the Herbert Café and join friendly people for a day of sketching around Coventry city centre at this informal and supportive event. Look afresh at Coventry’s cityscape, sketch in whatever medium you prefer and
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learn from each other in this self-led session. Organised by local urban sketchers. Please bring your own materials. Suitable for adults. Booking is required. Call 02476 237521 or go to www.theherbert.org
TALK 11 April Stuart Maconie: The People’s Songs mac 8pm, £16 (£14) Spend an evening in the company of this popular and prolific TV and radio presenter, journalist, columnist and author as he tells the story of modern Britain through the records that we listened to and loved during the dramatic and kaleidoscopic period from the Second World War to the present day.
TALK 16th April Type Talks: John Neilson Birmingham City University, P350 Lecture Theatre, 5.30pm, Free It’s the turn of Stone Carver John Neilson to share his practice at April’s event (see Feb event for further info). Tickets must be booked at typographichub.org
COMEDY 17 April Milton Jones and the Temple of Daft The Civic Hall ART 18 April – 14 June Aideen Doran public research lab Grand Union This investigative, creative research project interrogates the idea of the city as a space for artistic, economic and ideological production. It responds specifically to the shifting fabric of
FESTIVALS the city of Birmingham, where Grand Union is based, critiquing its contemporary urban culture of regeneration through research into the archival traces of the city’s urban past, and its BE FESTIVAL 2015 past visions of the future 22 - 27 June city. befestival.org Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Aideen’s research outputs for this project will be through the creation of a research lab in GU’s gallery and a series of workshops and talks opening these key questions to a broader audience. A series of workshops and talks will accompany the exhibition, opening up these key questions to a broader audience. Opening event 17 April, 6–8pm. MUSIC 29 April Seasick Steve Civic Hall
Birmingham’s own international theatre festival will be returning to turn the city’s Repertory Theatre upside down and back to front with some of the most exciting and cutting-edge theatre, dance, performance and circus from all around Europe. Four show a night, exhibitions, workshops, live music and delicious dinner.
FIERCE FESTIVAL: LIVE ART. COLLISION. HYPERLOCAL. SUPERNOW. wearefierce.org 7 - 11 October 2015 In 2015 Fierce are partnering with the newly opened BOM (Birmingham Open Media) to create a thriving festival hub in the city centre, featuring a number of artists exploring intersections between new media and the body - examining how advances in technology impacts our sense of identity and performance of self. The festival programme with be packed with its distinctive blend of performances and live art events in spaces across the city - from warehouses and galleries to theatre stages and nightclubs. 063
COMING UP
COMPTON VERNEY EXHIBITIONS IN 2015 Canaletto: Celebrating Britain, 14 Mar – 7 Jun The Non-Conformist: Photographs by Martin Parr, 14 March – 7 June The Arts and Crafts House: Then and Now, 27 Jun – 13 Sept
In mid-March the award winning art gallery of Compton Verney will re-open it gates to the public. Throughout the year, the stunning grounds of the 18th century country mansion will be the venue for some promising exhibitions. This year, Compton Verney has the honour to be partner of the National Gallery’s masterpiece tour 2015. In the first half of the year the exhibition Canaletto: Celebrating Britain shows a collection of paintings and drawings, which the Venetian painter created during his long-term stay in Britain between 1746 and 1755. The exhibition will be accompanied by Canaletto’s masterpiece A Regatta on the Grand Canal, which is a loan from the National Gallery. At the same time, photographs by Martin Parr (pictured) are exhibited. Over a period of five years the photographer documented a community in Yorkshire whose traditional lifestyle was organised around church and hill-farming. The black and white photographs give a unique insight into the conventional life of a disappearing English community in the 1970’s. In June, Compton Verney will show a large exhibition on the Arts in Crafts movement in 19th century England. The Arts and Crafts House: Then and Now explores the history of design and domestic territory. Featuring the work of artists and designers such as John Ruskin, Louise Powell, Ernest Gimson and many more, the collection celebrates the fascination for the design of home and garden and its influence today. Highlight of the exhibition is a mown parterre (a formal garden), created by landscape architect Dan Pearson, which is based on the designs of the legendary William Morris. MP 064
Anniversary tea. Boulderclough Methodist Chapel. Calderdale. 1975-80.
Wedding. Crimsworth Dean Methodist Chapel. Calderdale. 1975-80.
Š Martin Parr / Magnum Photos
Redman’s weaving shed, Scarbottom. Calderdale. 1975-80.
VENUE DIRECTORY ART VENUES BARBER INSTITUTE Univeristy of Birmingham Edgbaston, B15 2TS barber.org.uk
MAC Cannon Hill Park macarts.co.uk @mac_birmingham
BM&G Chamberlain Square, B3 3DH bmag.org.uk | @BM_AG
WARWICK ARTS CENTRE University of Warwick Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL warwickartscentre.co.uk
EASTSIDE PROJECTS 86 Heath Mill Lane, B9 4AR eastsideprojects.org | @eprjcts
WOLVERHAMPTON ART GALLERY Lichfield St, WV1 1DU wolverhamptonart.org.uk @WolvArtGallery
GRAND UNION Fazeley Street, B5 5RS grand-union.org.uk | @grandunionltd
THEATRE VENUES
THE HERBERT Jordan Well, Coventry, CV1 5QP 024 7683 2386 theherbert.org IKON GALLERY Oozells Square, B1 2HS ikon-gallery.co.uk | @ikongallery NEW ART GALLERY WALSALL Gallery Square, Walsall, WS2 8LG thenewartgallerywalsall. org.uk | @NewArtGallery 066
AE HARRIS 110 Northwood Street Birmingham, B3 1SZ aeharrisvenue.co.uk BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME Hurst Street 0844 338 5000 birminghamhippodrome. com BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE Broad St, Birmingham, B1 2EP 0121 236 4455 birmingham-rep.co.uk
RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6BB rsc.org.uk OTHER VENUES BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY P350 Lecture Theatre, Parkside Building, 5 Cardigan Street, B4 7BD. bcu.ac.uk HARE & HOUNDS 106 High Street, B14 7JZ hareandhoundskingsheath. co.uk LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM Broad St, B1 2EP libraryofbirmingham.com MILLENNIUM POINT Curzon Street, B4 7XG BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL Victoria Square thsh.co.uk WOLVERHAMPTON CIVIC & WULFRUN HALLS North Street, WV1 1RD wolvescivic.co.uk