Wednesday 15th March I visited Birmingham for the day for the first time to visit some of the art galleries there. Throughout the day we visited three different galleries while exploring the city. While I was there I filmed some clips and created a short YouTube video, if you want to check it out below.
Ikon Gallery
The first gallery we visited was the Ikon Gallery, which was a really interesting gallery, with a lot of contemporary art. Even though it was a small gallery there were different floors. One of the artworks on show that I really enjoyed was the image on the right, in the light there was a red background with text and when the lights turned off a new font appeared with glow in the dark paint, which I did not expect. It was a really creative piece with the neon lights.
The image on the left was an interesting piece, the work was in the dark and when you took a photo of it, it changed completely with the camera on flash. The outcome reminds me of part of the moon.
Outside of the room there were instructions on what to do while entering the room and stating to go inside alone. I think this piece was really interesting and interactive.
Midlands Arts Centre
Midlands Art Centre was the second art gallery we visited, which I really enjoyed. There was such a variety of art from many artists in the Grayson's Art Club Exhibition. The exhibition included work that you would not often see in a traditional gallery as you often see artworks from well-known artists, whereas this gallery included many local artists, which I really liked. The work was in different mediums and many had the theme of the COVID-19 lockdown or was created during this time. There was an artwork named Tess and Trace which was a creative piece reflecting the lockdown about taking COVID tests, which I shown in the YouTube video.
The artwork on the left shows different powerful women in different industries, which is really creative as they have been created as little dolls and you can tell who many are without looking at the names on the side. The artwork on the left shows the thoughts of university students, which is really relatable!
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is Birmingham's University art gallery, showing traditional oil paintings in many rooms, there were such a variety of paintings from different artists. The gallery was so different to the other two galleries we saw this day. I really enjoyed seeing the landscape paintings, as this theme of paintings is what I am most interested in. It was incredible to see the paintings so close up, the details were amazing as well as so many realistic pieces. It was also really interesting that the gallery was located in a university too and the art students have access to so much art on their campus.
Here is some additional photographs I took in Birmingham while walking around
The contrast between the different architecture in both of the buildings is really interesting.
If you want to see more of my photography I share them on instagram @capturethis._
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