The Ikon Gallery
Established	1965
Location	Brindleyplace, Birmingham
Type	Contemporary art
Director	Jonathan Watkins
Website	http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk

The Ikon Gallery (grid reference SP060866) is an English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use Canalside development in the centre of Birmingham, England ( Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. Jonathan Watkins (born 1957) is an English Curator, and is currently Director of the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland An art gallery or art museum is a space for the exhibition of art, usually Visual art. Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use Canalside development in the centre of Birmingham, England ( Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural historical or cultural significance The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began Oozells Street Board School was a Victorian board school in Oozells Street off Broad Street in Birmingham, England. John Henry Chamberlain ( June 21, 1831 – October 22, 1883) generally known professionally as J H Chamberlain, was a nineteenth century The gallery's current director is Jonathan Watkins. Jonathan Watkins (born 1957) is an English Curator, and is currently Director of the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham.

Ikon was set-up to encourage the public to engage in contemporary art. As a result of this, the gallery runs an off-site 'Education and Interpretation' scheme that educates audiences, promotes artists and their art. The gallery is open every day of the week except Mondays, though it opens on bank holiday Mondays. A bank holiday is a Public holiday in the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland.

Featured artworks include all forms of media including sound, sculpture and photography as well as paintings. Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Exhibitions rotate throughout the year so that as many pieces can be displayed as possible. Ikon is a registered charity which is partly funded by Birmingham City Council and Arts Council of England. The definition of charitable organization, and of charity varies according to the country and in some instances the region of the country in which the charitable organization operates Birmingham shown within Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales

History

The Ikon Gallery logo at the entrance to the gallery cafe.

"The Ikon" (as it is colloquially known) was founded by Angus Skene and four artists from the Birmingham School of Art - David Prentice, Sylvani Merilion, Jesse Bruton and Robert Groves - after Skene bought Prentice's painting Kate and the Waterlilies in 1964, and the two started discussing the lack of support for contemporary artists provided by Birmingham's existing artistic institutions. Angus Skene (died 2002 was a Scottish Accountant, Art collector and Art gallery -owner notable as the founder of the Ikon Gallery The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. David Prentice (born July 4 1936) is an English Artist and former art teacher. Sylvani Merilion (née Smith) (born 1936) is an English Artist and former art teacher. ^[1] Originally conceived as a "gallery without walls" (exhibitions were planned to tour unconventional locations such as cinemas and post offices in a motorcycle sidecar)^[2] it was eventually established in 1965 in an octagonal glass-walled kiosk in Birmingham's then-new Bull Ring shopping centre. A post office is a facility authorized by a Postal system for the posting receipt sorting handling transmission or delivery of Mail. A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a Motorcycle, producing a three-wheeled vehicle The Bull Ring is a commercial area of Birmingham, England. It has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when its market was first The first exhibition was of work by John Salt, and the venue was staffed by the founding artists and sometimes their spouses on a voluntary basis. John Salt (born August 2 1937) is an English artist whose obsessively detailed paintings from the late 1960s onwards made him one of the pioneers of the

The venture was funded by Skene, but control was left in the hands of the artists. ^[3] The name of the gallery was coined by Groves, who was interested in the icons of the Eastern Orthodox Church. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world The name was agreed by the other founders partly on the basis that it "divides beautifully geometrically and was splendid in all directions". ^[4] Ikon's founding prospectus declared: "Ikon is intended as an antithesis to exclusive art establishments and galleries … it has been formed because of the need for an accessible place where the exchange of visual ideas can become a familiar reality"^[5]

The initial lease on the kiosk expired after three years, but with Arts Council support from 1967, the gallery was able to appoint a full-time gallery manager and move to a former mortuary in Swallow Street in 1968. Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales ^[3] By 1972 it had held 93 exhibitions and 40 group shows,^[6] and in 1978 it moved again to a former carpet warehouse in John Bright Street. ^[7]

The gallery moved to its current site in 1997 with the cost of the conversion partly funded by a grant from the National Lottery. The National Lottery is the largest Lottery in the United Kingdom. The refurbishment work was designed by Levitt Bernstein, who reinstated the tower which had been demolished during the 1960s. Café Ikon, on the ground floor, was designed by Birmingham-based architects The Space Studio and opened in December 1998. Form, Space & Order were the contractors. ^[8] In July 2006, it opened a second site in Digbeth - Ikon Eastside. Digbeth is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also the name of the main road through the area Ikon Eastside is an Art gallery in the Digbeth area of Birmingham, England.

Current activities

The Ikon Gallery from the entrance.

The Ikon has an artistic programme consisting of three interdependent strands.

• The gallery features temporary exhibitions over two floors totalling 450 square metres (4,844 sq ft). A variety of media are represented, including sound, film, mixed media, photography, painting, sculpture and installation. Sound' is Vibration transmitted through a Solid, Liquid, or Gas; particularly sound means those vibrations composed of Frequencies In the Arts media (plural of Medium) are the materials and techniques used by an Artist to produce a work Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Installation art uses sculptural materials and other media to modify the way a particular space is experienced
• There is also an off-site programme which helps develop dynamic relationships between art, artists and the audience outside the gallery. The projects and events vary enormously in scale, duration and type of location, challenging expectations of where art can be seen and by whom.
• Education is at the heart of the Ikon's activities, stimulating public interest in and understanding of contemporary visual art. The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily Visual in nature such as Painting, Photography Through a variety of talks, tours, workshops and seminars, the Education & Interpretation programme recognises that artistic expression can empower people, heightening individual and community experience.

Ikon is a limited company, registered as an educational charity. A limited company in the United Kingdom is a Corporation whose liability is limited by law Ikon receives core funding from Arts Council West Midlands and Birmingham City Council and raises additional income from a variety of sources, including charitable trusts and foundations and corporate sponsorship.

Artists

Some recent artists include Santiago Sierra, On Kawara, Roy Arden, Marcel Dzama, Olafur Eliasson, Simon Patterson, Richard Billingham, and Julian Opie. Santiago Sierra (born 1966 is a Spanish artist He lives in Mexico City. On Kawara (born December 24, 1932) is a Japanese Conceptual artist living in New York City since 1965 Roy Arden (born 1957 is a photographer and digital video artist based in Vancouver. Marcel Dzama (born 1974 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) is a Canadian artist living in New York City known for small-scale ink and watercolor Olafur Eliasson (born 1967 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish - Icelandic artist noted for his exhibition The Weather Project at the Simon Patterson (born 1967) is an English artist and was born in Leatherhead, Surrey. Richard Billingham (born 25 September 1970) is an English photographer and artist Julian Opie (born 1958) is a leading contemporary English artist who uses computerised imagery

External links

• Ikon Gallery
• Levitt Bernstein: Ikon Gallery
• 1890 Ordnance Survey map of school (in centre)
• Images of England — details from listed building database (217477)

References