Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Ikon Gallery In Birmingham, England

By Andrew Kelly


Birmingham is a cosmopolitan city in the county of the West Midlands, England, it is an incredibly popular vacation destination. The city features an incredible selection of fantastic visitor attractions including many churches which have Grade I status and other impressive buildings as well as many museums and galleries, including Birmingham's Ikon Gallery.

The Ikon Gallery in Birmingham is an art gallery specialising in contemporary art which is housed in the building which was previously the Oozells Street Board School in Brindleyplace, but it was not always housed so suitably.

The Ikon was founded in nineteen sixty four by Angus Skene and 4 artists. The 4 artists were; Jesse Bruton, Sylvani Merilion, Robert Groves and David Prentice. Angus Skene had bought one of David Prentice's paintings and the two of them talked about the numerous problems faced by local artists, which included the terrible lack of general support and venues. The conversation led to the creation of Ikon which was to be a "gallery without walls".

Angus Skene financed the project initially, which consisted of exhibitions in such unusual locations as cinemas and post offices in a motorcycle sidecar, the idea was to allow the general public more access to art. To keep the overheads down staffing duties was by the founding artists, friends and family who did not take wages. In nineteen sixty five the Ikon Gallery obtained a glass stall in the famous Bull Ring shopping centre.

For almost 2 decades the Ikon Gallery moved from location to location until 1997 when it acquired, with aid from the National Lottery, its present premises, the former Oozells Street Board School. In recent years the Gallery has held a selection of exhibitions and its continual ability to excel has caused it to become incredibly popular, to such an extent that it opened another gallery in 2006, Ikon Eastside in Digbeth.

If you are considering a short break in Birmingham we hope that we have interested you enough to actually visit the Ikon Gallery. Also it is important to know that although there are many Birmingham hotels and guest houses finding bed and breakfast in Birmingham can at times be pretty difficult. Because of this it is vitally important to book your accommodation at the earliest opportunity. You should know that Birmingham International Airport is about eight miles east of the center of the city just off the A45 and near the M42 (junction 6). You will find there is a useful number of hotels and guest houses not too far from the airport.




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