Programme July – September 2015 www.ikon-gallery.org Free entry At Home with Vanley Burke Exhibition 22 July – 27 September 2015 First Floor Galleries Vanley Burke, born in Jamaica in 1951, resident in Birmingham since 1965, is renowned as a photographer concerned especially with black culture in Britain. Burke has had numerous exhibitions surveying his career as an artist, and these have sometimes included material from his archive, a vast collection including printed material (posters, flyers, publications), clothes, records, ornaments and countless other items that provide invaluable insights into Britain’s African and Caribbean communities. The religious and political beliefs of black people at home here, their artistic activities, 1 fashions and leisure pursuits, food, health issues and many other aspects of everyday life are all equally of interest to the artist. 3 2 The archival items are like photographs in that etcetera – so that the artist is revealed as a subject they are indexical traces of human presence, of his own enquiry. Vanley Burke’s personal story, countless pieces of evidence of actual experience. involving such a vital archival impulse, is integral The collection of them suggests insurance against to the bigger picture he is making for us, on this certain memories being lost, and that there will occasion with the help of many others. be a repository of raw material that can give rise to alternative histories. Each item not only gives The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, priced its own particular account – why was it made, £18, special exhibition price £15, illustrated with where and for whom? – but also it is evocative of a Vanley Burke’s photographs and including texts by zeitgeist, an evolving spirit of a time, lived through Pete James, Curator of Photographs at the Library of by the artist, that embodies hope as much as fear, Birmingham, and artist/curator Marlene Smith. feelings of alienation as much as celebration, active resistance and demands for equal opportunity as Get involved online much as the enjoyment of new adventures. The Use the hashtag #athomeicollect and tag collection as a whole is thus greater than the sum of @ikongallery to share your collections via Twitter its parts and extremely poignant. and Instagram. Burke’s archive is partly in storage at the Library of Birmingham, but most of it is to be found in his flat in Nechells, near Birmingham’s city centre, in filing 1, 3 Photograph by Vanley Burke cabinets or boxes or on display. It is an extraordinary 2 Vanley Burke interior, a cabinet of wonderful curiosities. This is A crowd welcoming the leaders an exhibition, more or less, of its entire contents from Robben Island From the series No Time for – the archive with artworks and souvenirs, as well Flowers (1990) as decor and furniture, wardrobe, kitchenware Black and white photograph Takehisa Kosugi SPACINGS Exhibition 22 July – 27 September 2015 Second Floor Galleries Ikon presents the first major solo exhibition in several transmitters, radios and a toy slide projector, the UK by Japanese composer and artist Takehisa suspended from the ceiling, close enough to one Kosugi. A pioneer of experimental music in Japan in another to cause audio and visual interference. the early 1960s, closely associated with the Fluxus movement and the Merce Cunningham Dance Ikon’s exhibition features Mano-dharma, electronic Company, Kosugi is one of the most influential (1967), a work in which Kosugi makes use of artists of his generation. inaudible waves – such as radio frequency waves and wind movement – and draws sound from This exhibition features three sound installations, them through the interaction of electronic wave including one made especially for Ikon. Combining transmission devices and receivers suspended from everyday materials and radio electronics, they the ceiling. The effect is enhanced by an oscillating involve interactions with wind, electricity and light, fan and visualised through a video projection of making sonic relationships between objects. ocean waves. Kosugi studied musicology at the Tokyo National Interspersion for Light and Sound (2000) is a work University of Fine Arts and Music during the which embodies imperceptible movement. A late 1950s and was inspired by the spirit of Perspex box is filled with white sugar and/or sand experimentation coming from Europe and the emitting faint crackles of sound and light from the US, while simultaneously intrigued by traditional electronics and LEDs concealed below the surface, Japanese music, in particular Noh Theatre, and its caused by the acoustic and visual transparency concept of ‘ma’ – the conscious appreciation of of the granular materials. Kosugi thus shares the in-between-ness of one sound and another. with us the wonder of accidental encounters and The artist’s desire for spontaneity in his own uncertainty created by invisible phenomena at work. performances led him to co-found Japan’s first group dedicated to collective improvisation, Group Ongaku in 1960, and later the Taj Mahal Travellers. He became involved with the Fluxus movement, and in 4 Takehisa Kosugi 1965 settled in New York, where he collaborated with Mano-dharma, electronic (1967) a number of other artists including Nam June Paik. R.F. oscillator, radio, string, electric fan, DVD, projector Courtesy the artist Kosugi’s interest had by then shifted from making 5 Takehisa Kosugi music towards what he referred to as ‘events’, and Interspersion for Light and Sound he began producing work that formed a tangible (2000) (detail) relationship between sound and the environment. Audio generator, light pulse generator, piezo transducer, Experiments with radio electronics were manifested LED, sugar, plastic container in Catch-Wave (1967), a seminal work which includes Courtesy the artist Vanley’s Summer Party Wednesday 22 July, 8–11pm, £10 per person Ikon celebrates the summer with a special party mixing Vanley Burke’s favourite Caribbean music and food. Sound system provided by Wassifa Showcase. Entry ticket includes a free cocktail, ‘The Vanley’ and barbeque available from Café Opus. 7 Limited spaces available, advance booking advised. Visit www.ikon-gallery.org to book online or call Ikon Shop on 0121 248 0711. Berending Kumpo Birmingham Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, 12pm Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, roaming throughout the city – FREE Weekender For Birmingham Weekender, Ikon presents Berending 6 Kumpo from The Gambia. Kumpo is a masquerade 25–27 September, across Birmingham city centre figure who mysteriously appears and disappears FREE and scares away malevolent spirits. Dressed in an elaborate full-length bark coloured costume, Birmingham’s arts organisations come together he moves furiously about carrying weapons, Julie Brook is an artist drawn to landscape, often to stage a free weekend of amazing outdoor arts, one in each hand, that he slaps together while Julie Brook making outdoor sculptural interventions and film. with events throughout the city centre. Marking screaming. The combination of dramatic sound and These take inspiration from the spirit and actuality the opening of the newly transformed New Street exaggerated movement causes a collective sense of their location – be it the Orkney islands, the Station, Birmingham Weekender embraces the of excitement and anxiety. This is an opportunity Pigment Hebrides or the Libyan desert – and are thus brilliance of local and international artists. Join us to experience a distinctly authentic performance. expressive of personal experience. and enjoy two days full of music, dance, theatre, Based in The Gambia the performers undertake their Exhibition food, sport and fashion. first UK residency at Ikon and artefacts representing 22 July – 27 September 2015 Brook shot Pigment in a cave in Namibia in 2013, www.birminghamweekender.com Kumpo feature in Vanley Burke’s exhibition at the Tower Room, Second Floor featuring three Himba women extracting red gallery. Please note the Tower Room is only accessible pigment; the colour they traditionally rub onto their 8 via a number of steps skin and a colour that she uses to make drawings. Berending Kumpo Talk The strength and confidence of the physical Wednesday 23 September activity involved and the sheer beauty of the dusty See Public Events for more information. russet atmosphere, illuminated by shafts of golden 6 Julie Brook sunlight, make it absolutely compelling. Art Explorers and Makers Pigment (2013) Otjize, NW Namibia 26–27 September, 12–4pm – FREE HD video, 8.30 mins Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, B1 2HS 7 Vanley Burke Become an Art Explorer and join us for free creative Siffa Sound System (1983) activities in Oozells Square, led by professional artists, Black and white photograph designers and makers from Craftspace. Suitable for 8 Berending Kumpo all ages. No need to book, stay for as long as you like. Senegal Festival (2011) Visit www.ikon-gallery.org for full details. Associated events Artist’s Talk – Vanley Burke Black Country Public Events Thursday 10 September, 6.30–8pm – FREE Join photographer Vanley Burke in discussion about his life and work, including the inspiration behind his Bumblehole Family Fun Day Exhibition opening current exhibition At Home with Vanley Burke. Places Voyages Saturday 25 July, 11am–4pm – FREE are free but should be booked. Please visit Artist’s Talk – Jacques Nimki, 1pm – FREE www.ikon-gallery.org to book online or call Ikon on The Black Apotheca Bumblehole Conservation Group Visitor Centre, Wednesday 22 July, 6–8pm – FREE 0121 248 0708. Windmill End, Netherton, Dudley DY2 9HU Join us to celebrate the opening of our new Join artist Jacques Nimki and guest speakers at exhibitions. Pay bar. Heritage Spotlight Tour Bumblehole Family Fun Day. Friday 11 September, 1–2pm – FREE Black Country Voyages (2014–2017) is an art Join us for an extended spotlight tour looking at the programme for local young people, aged 16–21 Black Country Voyages at Stourbridge history of Ikon’s current home, the former Oozells years old, involving members of the Ikon Youth Monday 17 – Thursday 20 August Street School, designed by architect John Henry Programme (IYP).