Sculpture-Rich Introduction. 1. Aston University 2. Newton Street

Old Square

Guardians Peace Sculpture Tipping Triangles Wattilisk Tony Hancock Memorial

TIME: 2.5 hours Start at Aston University, just off Woodcock Street, outside the Sack Make your way up Corporation Street. When you reach Newton START: University Of Aston of Potatoes pub. As you walk into the university campus, on your left Street turn left and you will see the fascinating sculpture Wattilisk FINISH: Brindleyplace you will see the first of two fantastic water sculptures. Tipping Trian- (1988) by Vincent Woropay. This looks like a lesson in Cubism with the traditionally rendered head at the top morphing into a simplified MILES: 2.45 miles gles (1994) by Angela Connor is constantly in motion, with each of its and more abstract Picasso-esque head at the bottom. huge metal panels, or ‘tippers’, shifting back and forth as the water This walk will take you through Birmingham’s vibrant and rejuvenated pressure changes. Angela Connor worked with Barbara Hepworth, a This strange scuIpture is believed to be based on a real invention city centre, via daring futuristic architecture, Anthony Gormley’s Iron: pioneering British sculptor whose innovations in using abstract shapes by ex-Birmingham resident and father of the steam engine, James Man, a sculpture-copying machine and Picasso’s famous sculpture and elemental forms were heavily influenced by Picasso. The legacy Watt. In the early 19th Century, during his retirement, Watt began ex- The Young Man. of both Picasso and Hepworth is continued strongly in this work. perimenting with a carving machine that could actually replicate sculp- tures. Andy Warhol would certainly have approved, when he set up You can access this walk via your mobile phone on, To get to the next sculpture, head through the campus towards Aston his Factory in Sixties New York, he created a factory-style assembly line to produce his artworks. His aim was to mass-produce images the www..co.uk/modernmasters Street, cross the road and follow the path towards the Lakeside Cen- way capitalist corporations mass-produce consumer goods. tre. Here you will find a lake where sculptor William Pye has placed Or text the code ART WALK to 81010, and you’ll receive a a huge steel triangle. Peace Sculpture (1985) is a bold and futuristic Walk back up Corporation Street and carry on until you reach Old link to the Modern Masters mobile site. Texts cost between work, rising from the lake with its 16 jets of water forming a trellis Square, and you will see what looks like a Warhol screen print staring 12 -15p. inside the triangle. Pye is renowned for his use of abstract, geometric you in the face. It’s actually a sheet-metal sculpture called Memorial shapes and the elegant simplicity of his sculptures. Like Matisse, Pye To Tony Hancock (1996) by Bruce Williams. This is a clear example of Download the audio version at uses simple, clean shapes with minimal detail and the effect, particu- Warhol’s enduring influence on contemporary art and design. www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/modernmasters/art-walks/birming- larly on a sunny day, is stunning. ham/ Nearby you will find a 3-D mural, Old Square (1967) by Kenneth George Budd. The mural is in the style of a collage, a technique in- Now head towards James Watt Queensway, and cross at the inter- This is where the art works resided at the time of writing vented by Picasso and Braque when they started sticking pieces of but if you want to double check that a specific art work will section with Corporation Street. newspaper and fabric on to their Cubist still lifes. be there when you undertake your walk then phone ahead to the Museums and institutions involved. You’ll find links on each of the pages. Now keep walking up Corporation Street, turn left into Bull Street and follow the road round until you reach the city’s famous Bullring. bbc.co.uk/modernmasters 3. The Bullring 4. New Street Station 5. Victoria Square

Brummie The Bull Selfridges

The Rotunda Light Wands Untitled Glass Mural Iron Man River

The spectacular Bullring is where sculpture meets architecture. Its At the Rotunda, head for the sloping pathway down to New Street Here in Victoria Square you can see three types of figure, ranging centrepiece is the Rotunda building. Completed in 1965, it was not Station. As you pass, take a look at Laurence Broderick’s 2003 sculp- from the classical friezes on the grand Victorian Council House build- ture of one of Picasso’s favourite subjects, the bull. Picasso once said ing to Anthony Gormley’s austere Iron: Man. popular at first but it is now a listed building and is a firmly established that if he hadn’t become an artist he would have become a Picador element of Birmingham’s skyline. Just in front of the Rotunda, and the - a bullfighter - and bulls are depicted in a huge number of his works. This sculpture is locally known as Brummie The Bull. First, though, take a look at the sculptures in the centre of the square. space-age Parametric Bridge, you will see three ‘light wands’. Visible River, Guardians, Youth and Object (Variations) are all by the Picasso- from the other side of the city, these tall carbon fiber wands are de- When you reach New Street, make your way along Smallbrook inspired sculptor Dhruva Mistry, and they were placed here in 1993. Queensway. On your left you will see the main entrance to the Bull- signed to sway in the wind and act as beacons for the Bullring Shop- The main figure of the woman reclining in the fountain, known locally ring. The huge glass mural, reminiscent of Matisse’s vivid cutouts, is ping Centre. The centre itself consists of two main buildings sheltered by architectural artist Martin Donlin. as the Floozie In The Jacuzzi, is particularly reminiscent of the chunky by a glass roof known as the SkyPlane. figures Picasso started painting in the 1920s. As you follow the road round, note the long curved building on the opposite side of the street. This is the Ringway Centre, completed This sculpture owes a debt to Picasso’s neoclassical period, when Cubism was the starting point for this radical style of building design. It in 1961 and designed by James A. Roberts, who also designed the Rotunda building behind you. Note the Cubist designs below the win- he returned to painting more recognisable forms after the trauma of was pioneered by the great 20th-century architect Le Corbusier whose dows. World War One. For an idea of the classical style he took as his start- aim, inspired by Cubism’s angular look, was to bring simplicity back ing point, take a look at the grand stone frieze above the main en- Take the third right onto Hill Street. At the top, outside the Orion Build- to buildings. For a glimpse into the future though, beyond this Cubist- trance of the Council House building at the top of the square. ing, you will see Lee Grandjean’s white Untitled sculpture. Erected in inspired look, head down to the old church in St Martin’s Square. 1986, this could easily have been made 50 years earlier and owes There, on your left, you will see the gothic church’s polar opposite, the much to Picasso’s angular style from the 1920s onwards. The impact Nearby, you will also see Antony Gormley’s more modern-looking 20- of cubism is clear to see, the large blocks of stone jutting out at all foot tall Iron: Man. With its feet buried in the ground, this lonely rusting Selfridges building. angles invites us to look at work from several different perspectives. figure lurking by the trees looks like a leftover from another age. Ac-

For a quick detour, turn left past the sculpture and follow the coloured cording to Gormley, it represents “the traditional skills of Birmingham Supposedly inspired by a dress covered in sequins, this extraordinary lines on the pavement. They’ll lead you on to an underpass littered and the Black Country practised during the Industrial Revolution”. architectural landmark is covered with 15,000 shiny aluminium discs. with coloured lights, hanging from the concrete roof. They were in- stalled as part of the entrance to The Mailbox, which you can see at It’s designed in an entirely 21st-century style known as ‘blobitecture’, Now make your way up towards Chamberlain Square, following the the other end of the underpass and is home to BBC Birmingham. The a term first coined in 2002. lights are best seen when it gets dark, offering a colourful spectacle signs for Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. to brighten up the drab concrete - Matisse, the king of colour, would have approved. Head back up Hill Street and continue on until you Now retrace your steps back up to the Rotunda. reach Victoria Square. bbc.co.uk/modernmasters 6. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery 7. Waterhall Gallery of Modern Art 8. Brindleyplace

Battle of the Gods and Giants

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery The Birmingham Man: Thomas Atwood Aqueduct ICC Mall

Here in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery you will find Picasso’s As you leave the gallery, turn right and head down behind the build- Cross the spacious Centenary Square and head towards the futur- small bronze statue, The Young Man (1958). This statue was a con- ing to the well-hidden, neighbouring Waterhall Gallery of Modern Art. istic ICC, or International Convention Centre. Walk through the ICC’s spectacular central mall and you will come out at the Brindleyplace tinuation of the sculptures he’d made of bathers a couple of years This is home to a constantly changing display of work from contem- centre, next to one of Birmingham’s many canals. earlier. Made from simple pieces of scrap timber nailed together, with porary international artists. You never know what you will find so it’s facial features burnt into the wood, the figure was then cast in bronze, well worth a visit. Here you’ll find Roderick Tye’s intriguing sculpture, Battle Of The symbolising the “primitive, primal energy of mankind”. Gods And Giants (1990). Intended to represent a broken cloud, sym- Now retrace your steps back to Chamberlain Square, taking a quick bolising the struggle between the mundane and divine, the swirling forms look like something out of a Dali painting. In 2002, seven years Nearby you will see Braque’s still life, Jug and Fruits (1927). Braque detour along Congreve Passage to see Birmingham Central Li- before his death in 2009, Tye gave up art to become a professional and Picasso together created the Cubist movement and brought it brary’s aptly named Art In A Window Gallery. Here, local artists are fly fisherman. into the mainstream. While Picasso eventually abandoned the style, able to show their work for a month at a time. As a bonus, at the top Braque continued to intensify his search for what he called “the mate- of the building you will also see a very Matisse-like frieze of coloured Now cross the canal and keep walking until you reach Central Square. There in the corner of the square you’ll see Aqueduct by rialisation of a new space”. shapes. Miles Davies (1995). From afar, the angle of this cunning two-part sculpture fools the eye and the two halves seem to slant off into the Other highlights here include Polish cubist Louis Marcoussis’ The Back in Chamberlain Square, sitting on some stone steps, you will distance. This is exactly the kind of trickery with perspective and per- Reader (1937). Marcoussis’ real name was Ludwik Kazimierz Wla- see what looks like a man reading a book. This is The Birmingham ception that Dali excelled at. Close up, though, they’re level. Made of dyslaw Markus. When he moved to as a young man in 1903, Man: Thomas Attwood (1993) by Fiona Peever and Sioban Coppinger. bronze and phosphor, this was the winning entry in a competition run by the Royal Society of British Sculptors. though, the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire suggested that he Now take a walk through the busy shopping arcade Paradise Forum, change it to something more French. Apollinaire knew what he was To end the walk, turn down Oozells Street on the other side of the he was talking about. His real name was Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz to Centenary Square. square and head for the Ikon Gallery. This is a great place to see all Apolinary Kostrowicki. sorts of contemporary art, including soundworks, sculpture, paintings and photography. It was set up to encourage the public to engage with contemporary art, and although you may not like it all, it’ll cer- Whilst you’re here take a look at the building’s stunning stained glass tainly provide a crash course in contemporary art. windows which are reminiscent of the stained glass windows Matisse created for the Chapel in Vence in the South of France. If you’ve enjoyed this walk then try one of our Art Walks around the UK. There is a world of Modern Art still to discover... bbc.co.uk/modernmasters Route: TIME: 2.5 hours START: University Of Aston FINISH: Brindleyplace MILES: 2.45 miles

Key:

: Walk : Step : Landmark : Train Station

Steps:

1 Aston University

2 Newton Street

3 The Bullring

4 New Street Station

5 Victoria Square

6 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

7 Waterhall Gallery of Modern Art

8 Brindleyplace

bbc.co.uk/modernmasters