The Witching Hour
Blink and you missed it! This very short lived exhibition took place at The Waterhall at Birmingham's Museum & Art Gallery last weekend and I'm so glad that I managed to see it.
'The Witching Hour' was part of 'The Art of Ideas' initiative which aims to make contemporary art more accessible to audiences and potenial buyers who have never invested in art before.
Lily Cole by Gillian Wearing
Curated by Matthew Collings and Matt Price, the exhibition explored the themes of darkness and the uncanny through the work of over 20 artists from, or based in, Birmingham and the West Midlands. Work shown included photographs, video, sculpture, printing and painting by artists such as Gillian Wearing, Stuart Whipps, Richard Billingham & Brian Griffin
Toby de Silva: Immortals
There were pieces which had an obvious darkness to them, for example Toby de Silva's opulent images (above) of the German based relics which have been dressed up & preserved in fine clothes & jewels, however, other work took a more subtle approach, displaying the strange and disconcerting which exists in our everyday modern life.
Chris Keenan's, 'Prefab Tom' below, was one such example. At first glimpse, a portrait of a homeowner outside his cottage with roses around the door. On closer inspection, the tilt of the head, the barred gate, the dying plants and general rundown air of the place, no longer makes it feel such an idyllic setting. Do you still wish to step inside?
Who knows if this exhibition will pop up again? I understand that money was an issue in hiring the Waterhall venue for any longer than four days. I guess that with arts funding being cut as it is, the short exhibition may sadly become more common. Support your local galleries and museums while you still can...
www.bmag.org.uk/
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P.S. I like the 'Prefab Tom' photo and the ambiguity behind it.