Birmingham has more than five thousand works of art in one square mile and is celebrating a
scorching visual arts calendar for the Autumn. This cultural pulse will be showcased by
Marketing Birmingham, who is launching a new three year campaign “Feel The Heat”, to help
promote the city’s artists, performances, activities and venues.
Marketing Birmingham Chief Executive, Neil Rami said: “The time is right for Birmingham to
re-assert its cultural credentials. The city has the breadth, scale and quality of arts events to
inspire residents and visitors alike, who can enjoy the arts offer all year round. With the
support of the city’s arts organisations, we’re going to put Birmingham’s artists and galleries
in the frame and show why Birmingham is the hottest ticket for visual arts.”
More than half a million objects fill the cabinets and walls of Birmingham’s museums. Here
you will find everything from Renaissance masterpieces to 9,000-year-old Middle-Eastern
treasures. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG) is particularly admired for its Pre-
Raphaelite paintings and drawings – the museum boasts the largest collection in the world.
Focussing on contemporary installations and international artists from a converted school, the
Ikon gallery’s future exhibitions showcase architecture and printmaking. Ex-political
cartoonist Damien Ortega works with materials sourced from a specific site, transforming
them through sculptural process. For Birmingham he has proposed using the coils of thin
copper sheeting processed in many of the factories surrounding The Old Chapel in Eastside to produce a series of towers. These will represent Birmingham’s changing skyline and a large scale, fully functioning battery, a metaphor for energy and transformation from 5th
September – 13th October. From 26th September – 18th November the first major survey of
Cornelia Parker’s work for a decade will be unveiled, including sculptures and video
installations. From 28th November 2007 – 20th January 2008 the Utagawa Hiroshige
exhibition will focus on the later work of 19th century Japanese artist. Curated by British
artist Julian Opie the exhibition will consist mainly of landscapes, on loan from The British
Museum.
‘Make your Mark with Art’ is a new event at Three White Walls gallery in The Mailbox by
Charlotte Latham. From 8th September – 20th October Charlotte is installing a charity based
exhibition, which allows the public to help create the works of art for four great causes.
Also in The Mailbox the Artlounge will feature works by Annemarie Wright, who studied Fine
Art Printmaking. Her images are not always as they first appear to be. Upon moving closer to
the black and white, slightly blurred portraits, one sees more clearly the handwritten text that
creates them. In the show that runs from 22nd – 30th November, James Brown and John
Lennon are some of the music legends featured.
Birmingham is home to the world’s largest collection of album cover fine art at St Paul’s
Gallery in the Jewellery Quarter, which is celebrating the 40th anniversary of psychadelia
with a new exhibition ‘The Karl Ferris Experience.’ Back in 1967, when new psychedelic styles of music, art, literature and lifestyle became popular, Karl Ferris was at the heart of this explosion working with key artists of the day including The Beatles, Eric Clapton and The
Hollies to produce monumental images for their album covers and promotional materials. To
mark these celebrations, Karl will be hosting an exhibition of his famous album cover
photography, including four original album cover fine art prints for Jimi Hendrix and Donovan.
From Botticelli to van Gogh The Barber Institute of Fine Arts contains one of the finest
small collections of European art in the UK featuring works from the 13th to the 20th century
and a rare collection of 16,000 coins from Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East.
Neil Rami concludes: “Utilising a city’s cultural offer to promote it as an attractive destination
isn’t a new concept, but one that pays significant social and economic dividends. We will
attract newer and more diverse audiences from both inside and outside the region,
encouraging visitors to stay longer and experience more that Birmingham has to offer.”
Ends
For further information and visuals, please contact Tracey Saunders, Head of PR & Corporate
Affairs, Marketing Birmingham on 0121 202 5002, or email us.
Notes to editors
• BMAG http://www.bmag.org.uk.
• Ikon http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk.
• St Paul’s Gallery http://www.stpaulsgallery.com.
• Three White Walls Gallery The Mailbox. Level 3, The Mailbox, Wharfside Street,
Birmingham B1 1XL
• The Artlounge www.artlounge.com.
• Barber Institute of Fine Art http://www.barber.org.uk.
Native Birmingham Artists
Temper (b1969)
Former gang member Aaron Bird - whose tagging name is Temper - has been signed up by
Chelsea billionaire Roman Abramovich in a deal worth more than £100,000. His six huge art
pieces, measuring 5ft by 5ft, appeared on the walls of the London club's prestigious new £14
million training facility, unveiled to the public in July. The Birmingham-based artist also has a
contract for paintings in the new Cube development which will open in 2009 in Birmingham
and interest in his pieces from celebrity fans including Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher.
Willard Wigan (b1957)
Willard Wigan was born in Birmingham in 1957 and is the creator of the smallest works of art
on earth. From being a traumatised and unrecognised dyslexic child, he is now emerging as
the most globally celebrated micro-miniaturist of all time and is literally capable of turning a
spec of dust into a vision of true beauty. His work has been described as "The eight wonder
of the world" and "Truly a gift from God". Willard can create a masterpiece within the eye of
a tiny sewing needle, on the head of a pin, the tip of an eyelash or a grain of sand. Some are
many times smaller than the fullstop at the end of this sentence. A collection of his microsculptures recently sold for £10m to an investor.
Peter Phillips (b1939)
Phillips was one of the group of artists, including David Hockney and Allen Jones, associated
with 1960s Pop Art. In the late 1960s he produced a series of paintings based on cars and
auto components. He has lived in Mallorca for many years and his later career has been lowkey. One of his early paintings received international exposure when it was chosen by
American band The Strokes for the cover of their 2005 album Room on Fire.
Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
A second wave Pre-Raphaelite with his Oxford friend William Morris, Burne-Jones is
internationally important as an influence on European Symbolist painting and the Arts &
Crafts movement. Though not overburdened with oil paintings the Museum & Art Gallery
collection is the largest anywhere, ranging from hundreds of drawings to a decorated piano.
Birmingham Cathedral also has his stained-glass masterpiece, The Last Judgement.
David Cox (1783-1859)
Born in Digbeth, Cox was one of the most important artists in the golden age of English
watercolour. Like his greater contemporary Turner, he links it to the Victorian age. Most of his
oil paintings are late works, and some have a freshness which tantalisingly anticipates
Impressionism. The Museum & Art Gallery has the largest collection of Cox's watercolours
and a significant collection of oils, though some were sold off cheaply when they were out of
fashion in the early 1960s.
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