Events on this Day
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Thomas Bewick, Tale Pieces - Ikon Gallery
April 8, 2009 to May 25, 2009 Ikon presents the first exhibition devoted entirely to the vignettes of British wood engraver, artist and naturalist Thomas Bewick.
Born in Cherryburn, near Mickley, Northumberland in 1753, Bewick worked in Newcastle until his death in 1828. Clearly infuenced by his childhood on a small farm on the banks of the river Tyne, Bewick’s love of the countryside is reflected in his detailed woodcuts of animals, birds and rural scenes. Amongst his most ambitious projects were illustrations for General History of Quadrupeds (1790) and History of British Birds (two volumes, 1797 and 1804), both of which also included a great number of vignettes. Bewick referred to these as ‘tale-pieces’. Intended as illustrations of “some truth or point of some moral” they provide an invaluable insight into social history while also demonstrating the artist’s imagination and wit.
Bewick’s images frequently reveal human frailties; one depicts a drunkard seeing two moons in the night sky; another shows a horse stopping on the bank of a river to avoid falling into the water, while his rider is oblivious. A dog is also present and aware of the imminent danger. An interpretation, written later by his daughter Jane, sums up the artist’s general attitude: “Instinct teaches these two dumb animals to walk wisely – churches and sign-boards do not avail in teaching men to keep in the right path”. Mortality is a subject to which Bewick often returns. In one poignant vignette he shows us children dressed in tall hats, holding swords aloft, riding gravestones like hobby-horses. A late subject is an emaciated horse, standing exposed to the cruel elements, “Waiting for Death”.
One tale-piece in particular attracts interest amongst artists today. It features a small scene with a house and figure on horseback almost totally obscured by the artist’s engraved thumb-print. With this unprecedented gesture Bewick asserts his authorship at the expense of a carefully wrought image.
Cut into the end-grain of blocks of box-wood, an exceptionally close-grained hard wood, Bewick’s tale-pieces are necessarily small in size, making us even more aware of the extraordinary skill involved in their production. Ikon is providing magnifying glasses for visitors to view the detail involved.
Ikon’s exhibition includes approximately 150 tale-pieces, selected in consultation with Iain Bain, a leading expert on Thomas Bewick.
For full details please visit www.ikon-gallery.co.uk.
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John Wood and Paul Harrison - Some words. Some more words
April 8, 2009 to May 25, 2009 British artists John Wood and Paul Harrison are best known for screen-based works that often involve the manipulation of familiar objects, giving rise to a wide range of imaginative associations. Shelf (2007) for example, presented in Ikon’s Tower Room, features a row of green bottles, recalling the well known playground song, and model horses jumping a barrier reminiscent of Muybridge’s explorations of movement in film. The sense of humour is characteristic, signifying an optimistic proposition that informs the artists’ work overall. The situations they invent may seem absurd at first glance, but always they embody an attempt to make sense of the world.
Night and Day (2008) is arguably their most ambitious piece to date. As the title suggests, light and dark play signifcant roles within individual events, as if they were protagonists moving from one scene to another. Consecutive exchanges with everyday things, some play with illusion and the transformation of space, some suggest a fragmentary narrative, while others imply a wryly comic touch.
Much of the work here, newly commissioned, indicates a change in direction for Wood and Harrison. Although they have frequently produced drawings as a way of developing ideas, these methods have remained in the studio rather
than appearing in the gallery space. Works now acknowledge the pivotal role played by drawing and diagrammatic models. Pieces such as Transition (clockwise) and Transition (squares) (2009) are permanent marker on paper and clearly handmade; lines visibly filling in areas of black tone. Hung vertically on a wall, we are inclined to read them as a film strip, in turn suggesting graphic devices used within opening credit sequences for film and television.A radical departure for the artists is the exclusive use of text, most clearly seen in Some words. Some more words. (2009), ten A1 prints from an ongoing series, and Of Knowing Where You Are (2009). The latter is a new video which uses combinations of words, like sub-titles from an unseen film. Frugal texts, ebbing and flowing like an open-ended storyline, express a sense of place and location. These ‘dry’ visualisations thus open up a space for personal reflection, surprising us with the emotional response they elicit.
This exhibition is organised in collaboration with Musée départemental d’art contemporain de Rochechouart and Kunstmuseum Thun. Wood and Harrison take part in The Two of Us, an event in May focusing on the nature of collaborative artistic practices.
For full details please visit www.ikon-gallery.co.uk.
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Serious Money
May 8, 2009 to May 23, 2009 As Britain’s financial turmoil dominates the headlines we step back to 1987 when the financial world came tumbling down with the Wall Street crash.
Caryl Churchill’s play Serious Money takes a look at the ruthless world of corporate finance and City greed. The Big Bang has changed the City. The square mile has been invaded by white knights and corporate raiders. Hot-shot dealer Billy Corman is plotting to take over the unsuspecting company Albion, aided and abetted by the new breed of yuppie traders. But their plans go awry when trader Jake Todd is found dead and the Department of Trade and Industry is brought in to investigate.
Full of satire and humour, Serious Money conveys the hectic excitement and the moral danger of financial risk bringing to life the swaggering, foul mouthed yuppies of the 80s.
A major force in British theatre, Caryl Churchill is one of the greatest and most celebrated playwrights of her generation. Her plays include Cloud Nine, Top Girls and A Number, which fast became one of the 21st century’s most acclaimed plays. Serious Money received its World Premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in 1987 after which it enjoyed runs in the West End and on Broadway.
“Serious Money is pure genius”
Daily Telegraph“Serious Money takes a satirical swipe at the yuppies of Threadneedle Street, as well as get-rich-quick wheeler-deelers of both sexes”
Sunday ExpressFor details, showtimes and bookings please visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk.
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Counting Crows plus special guests The Hold Steady
May 13, 2009 This concert was rescheduled from the 13th December 2008.
For details, showtimes and bookings please visit www.thenia.co.uk.
