YOUNG BIRMINGHAM ARTISTS: IKON ARTISTS FROM THE 1960S
Young Birmingham Artists: Ikon artists from the 1960s (11 July – 19 August 2018) is an exhibition of work by the artists who founded Ikon in 1964. Then in their 20s and early 30s, they published a prospectus that reflected their youthful idealism, describing Ikon as “an antithesis to exclusive art establishments and galleries … formed because of the need for an accessible place where the exchange of visual ideas can become a familiar reality.”
Through a variety of styles, Ikon artists conveyed their awareness of a wider conversation about art and its place in contemporary life, and sometimes their work referred to more general cultural trends. Sylvani Merilion focused on the scientific achievements of the sixties, especially space exploration, in her pain tings and more sculptural works whilst Dinah Prentice was more attuned to concrete poetry, exploring the possibilities of meaning and visual effect in fragmented typeface.
Before exhibiting in their first dedicated venue, an octagonal glass walled kiosk in Birmingham’s Bull Ring, Ikon’s founder artists showed their work at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists on New Street. This beautiful Victorian interior now has a new lease of life, relaunched as the Medicine Bakery & Gallery, and it is very fitting that the first exhibition here should celebrate the achievements of those once ‘young Birmingham artists.
John Salt, Silver Ghost (c.1965). Painting and collage. Courtesy Ikon.
John Salt was the first to exhibit at Ikon with collaged abstractions such as Silver Ghost (1965) derived from landscapes, preceding the photorealist work for which he is best known. A similarly major shift in style was evident in the work of Robert Groves, as painterly scenes of North Africa and India gave way to icon like rectangles of gold-leaf and other precious metals.
Pamela Scott Wilkie Journey: Shiraz (1972)
Pamela Scott Wilkie’s series of silkscreen prints titled Journey (1972) evolved out of the serendipity of real experience; colour dominated prints inspired by the artist’s travels in Asia.
In stark contrast, Jesse Bruton’s artistic practice involved a restricted palette of black and white in works such as Turnabout (1967 -1969)painted endeavours to embody the experience of driving through the British countryside. Through a variety of styles, Ikon artists conveyed their awareness of a wider conversation about art and its place in contemporary life, and sometimes their work referred to more general cultural trends.
Sylvani Merilion focused on the scientific achievements of the sixties, especially space exploration, in her pain tings and more sculptural works whilst Dinah Prentice was more attuned to concrete poetry, exploring the possibilities of meaning and visual effect in fragmented typeface. Trevor Denning’s work such as Large Mouth (1966) was a wonderful hybrid of surrealism and pop with distinctly Freudian connotations.
Trevor Denning, Large Mouth (1966). Acrylic on board, courtesy Charlotte Denning.
At the time of Ikon’s inauguration David Prentice was deriving inspiration from domestic subject matter, particularly concerned with translating his children’s experiences from their own points of view; his later paintings became increasingly minimal, with large fields of over lapping grids on plain grounds. Likewise Peter Berry developed an essentialist aesthetic that manifested itself in sculpture as well as painting. This presentation of work at Medicine Bakery & Gallery chimes with the original principles, as Ikon was first conceived of as a “gallery without walls”, with a programme of touring exhibitions, pitched up in various locations ranging from post offices to car showrooms.
David Prentice, Wifely Beginning (1962). Oil on board, courtesy Kate Prentice
Today Ikon continues to engage a wide range of audiences with exhibitions and events off- site asserting the continuity between art and everyday life and recent projects have taken place at Perrott’s Folly, an 18th century tower in Birmingham’s Ladywood district, St Philip’s Cathedral near Colmore Row and Steelhouse Lane Lock-up.
Meanwhile Ikon’s Slow Boat navigates the local canal network, providing a unique floating venue, whilst further afield their exhibitions tour nationally and internationally. The exhibition is at once an expression of gratitude to those who started the gallery and illustrates a remarkable chapter in the art history of Birmingham.
Full list of Young Birmingham Artists:
Peter Berry, Jesse Bruton, Trevor Denning, Robert Groves, Sylvani Merilion, David Prentice, Dinah Prentice, John Salt and Pamela Scott Wilkie.
Medicine Bakery & Gallery,
69 New Street,
Birmingham
B2 4DU.
Open Wednesday – Sunday, 8am – 6pm
free entry.
