Exhibitions / Events December 2019 – February 2020 Ikon-Gallery.Org
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Exhibitions / Events December 2019 – February 2020 ikon-gallery.org Free entry From a rising generation of indigenous artists in the personal and social history and effects of Meryl McMaster Canada, Meryl McMaster (b. 1988, Ottawa) uses colonisation, McMaster contemplates how ancestral photography to explore identity and its distinct stories are written into the landscape by the people cultural landscapes with extraordinary visual impact. who once lived, as well as those who still reside As Immense as the Sky For Ikon, she shows new and recent work, drawing there. She presents herself in nature, viewing the on her dual heritage to examine broader questions environment and seasons as an integral part of the Exhibition of being in the world. cultural context. 4 December 2019 – 23 February 2020 First Floor Galleries McMaster is of the nêhiyawak community (Plains Works from her series Edge of a Moment (2017), Cree) and a member of the Siksika First Nation taken in Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta, Launch Night (Alberta, Canada) on her father’s side, and Euro- an important historical site for the Siksika First Wednesday 4 December, 6–8pm Canadian (British and Dutch) on her mother’s. Nation, address the environmental consequences Fashioning elaborate, sculptural garments and props, of colonisation. McMaster references the dangers her performative self-portraits present journeys of unsustainable land usage and the erasure of key which are both actual and imaginative, into the species within ancestral ecosystems. realms of her ancestors. The exhibition tours to Canada House, London, In her recent series As Immense as the Sky (2019), Spring 2020. It is supported by Conseil des arts McMaster draws on place-based narratives, et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), Canada Council memory and self. Captured across ancestral sites for the Arts, Entente de développement culturel in Saskatchewan and early settlements in Ontario intervenue entre le gouvernement du Québec et and Newfoundland, she interprets, and re-stages la Ville de Québec and Manif d’art. patrimonial stories collected from relatives and community knowledge keepers. Acknowledging Cover Meryl McMaster From a Still Unquiet Place (2019) Digital C-print 1 Meryl McMaster On the Edge of This Immensity (2019) Giclée print Courtesy of the artist and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain and The Baldwin Gallery John Walker New Paintings Exhibition 4 December 2019 – 23 February 2020 Second Floor Galleries Launch Night Wednesday 4 December, 6–8pm 2 Ikon presents a major exhibition of new paintings lives. The freedom with which he is working, and by Birmingham-born artist John Walker (b. 1939), the edgy beauty he achieves as a result, give rise to recently described as “one of the standout abstract a refreshing artistic experience of colour and painters of the last 50 years” (Cate McQuaid, Boston graphic rhythms. Globe, 2014). Walker’s preoccupation with the natural world, Having studied in Birmingham at the Moseley and his place in it, is engaging in its essentialism – School of Art, and later the Birmingham College capturing light, space and tidal movement. He is of Art, Walker was the first artist to show at Ikon turning paint into land, sea and sky on a coastline Gallery when it moved in 1972 to new premises in that beats to the sound of the Atlantic Ocean – a the Birmingham Shopping Centre above New Street far cry from the industrial city where he was born 3 Station. Here he presented large chalk drawings and brought up. He left Birmingham more than fifty on blackboards made in situ. In the same year he years ago to explore new landscapes, literally and 2 John Walker Nomad II (2018) represented Britain at the Venice Biennale. artistically, and it is a privilege to have him back with us for a long-awaited homecoming. 3 John Walker This exhibition reveals an artist at the height of his Passage (2015) powers, featuring “anti-scenic” paintings inspired by The exhibition is supported by the John Feeney All works oil on canvas the coastal landscapes of Maine where Walker now Charitable Trust and the Owen Family Trust. Courtesy the artist Artists John Walker and Meryl McMaster have New Limited generously created new limited edition artworks to aid Ikon’s fundraising. By buying these works you are directly supporting Ikon. Editions Visit Ikon’s Editions Showcase (4 – 20 December 2019) or shop online for the full range of limited editions by artists including Polly Apfelbaum, Vanley Burke, Haroon Mirza and Cornelia Parker. Meryl McMaster On the Edge of This Immensity Edition of 50 50 × 75cm Digital print £200 4 ZouZou Group Damascus street, still from – door open – (2019) ZouZou Group – door open – Exhibition 4 December 2019 – 23 February 2020 Tower Room, Second Floor Please note the Tower Room is only accessible via a number of steps This new video installation, – door open – (2014–2019), is by ZouZou Group, comprising two anonymous artists, one Syrian from Damascus, the other British, living in England. The work comes from their ongoing dialogue, made possible (and frequently impossible) through online messaging and filesharing mobile phone video footage. The John Walker work exposes the constraints and imbalances of working together across the boundary of a war Ripple zone and longstanding military dictatorship. Three Edition of 35 screens speak to and across each other, exploring, 75 × 55cm interpreting and finally overcoming the many Check online for associated events including a Woodblock/screenprint impediments to making the work. The exhibition is panel discussion with women artists and academics, £400 supported by Art Fund. reflecting on the themes of – door open – Events Visit Ikon’s website for full events listings, including Talks, Curator Tours and Film Screenings. 5 Talks Book Launch Meryl McMaster and John Walker This Way To The Revolution (2019) Thursday 5 December, 6–7pm – £3 Tuesday 10 December Artists Meryl McMaster and John Walker discuss 6–7.30pm, Ikon and 7.30–9pm, Yorks Café – free their Ikon exhibitions, placing emphasis on the No need to book, just drop in artistic representation of homelands and adopted Ian Francis, Director, Flatpack Festival, launches a landscapes, ecology and the possibility of capturing book investigating art and activism in Birmingham the essential nature of a place. in 1968, including the photography of Janet Mendelsohn and Nick Hedges and the stories behind 6 Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla Birmingham Arts Lab, Mothers club and Black These Are a Few of My Favourite Things Sabbath. Francis is joined by a number of those who Friday 13 December, 6–7pm – £3 have shared memories for the publication – among Care(less) (2019) is an immersive 360 degree film Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Music Director, City of them musician Steve Ajao, who like John Walker VR Film using VR technology by British artist Lindsay Seers. Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, discusses her studied at Moseley School of Art. Ajao and his band This OPCARE artist commission responds to new eight favourite works of art with Jonathan Watkins, the Blues Giants play in Yorks Café after the launch. Lindsay Seers research by the University of Birmingham, University Ikon Director. This is the latest in our series of These Care(less) of Brighton and University of Lincoln, supported Are a Few of My Favourite Things, recently featuring 15–23 February 2020 (closed Monday 17 February) by the Wellcome Trust Enrichment Fund, into the horticulturist Alys Fowler, multi-award winning Winter Craft Market Events Room, First Floor experiences of older people receiving care they pay saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch, and cellist and for themselves. The installation is part of an ongoing conductor Julian Lloyd Webber. Thursday 12 December, 5.30–8.30pm – FREE exploration around the ethics of care in partnership Join us for our annual Winter Craft Market, 5 Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla with Fabrica gallery, Brighton and Frequency Book online at ikon-gallery.org Photograph by Frans Jansen expanded over both floors of the gallery. Take the Festival. or call 0121 248 0708. opportunity to meet a range of local independent 6 Lindsay Seers makers, with artisan food and drink alongside stalls Care(less) (2019) Please note this experience lasts for 20 minutes and Film still selling jewellery, gifts, cards and books plus music Courtesy Lindsay Seers/Keith Sargent has limited capacity. No need to book, just drop in. from the Diskery and 20% off in Ikon Shop. and Matt’s Gallery Families Schools Ikon is a family-friendly gallery offering free creative Ikon welcomes school visits all year, giving teachers activities and events. Visit on the first Saturday of and students a unique gallery experience. every month and enjoy Family Saturday – a fun, Tours practical workshop for all ages. Or pick up a copy of Self-guided tour (max 30 students) FREE Art Explorer, our exhibition guide for children. Guided tour (max 30 students) 1 hour, £30 Workshops KS1 + 2 – What is a gallery? 2 hours, £120 (max 30 students) KS3–5 – Guided tour and practical workshop 3 hours, £150 (max 15 students) Booking essential for all tours and workshops. 8 Book online at ikon-gallery.org or email [email protected]. Ikon Youth Programme IYP is a group of young people, aged 16–21, who share an interest in visual art. 7 February Half Term Workshops: IYP meets once a week at Ikon to tour Exploring our Landscape exhibitions, share ideas and work with Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 February, 12–4pm – FREE artists. Visit Ikon’s website for more Moseley Community Hub, Balsall Heath, B12 9AH information, details of future events We invite families to the former Moseley School of and how to join IYP or contact Farwa Art which inspired a generation of artists, including Moledina [email protected] John Walker.