Some of you will recall that I made a pocket-watch for the show, entitled "Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat" and this week I bought the catalogue image by Russell Barker at Progressive Imaging as it is so good:
I think that the jury have pulled together a superb show, one which is varied, shows both new and established makers and which - for all the diversity of submissions - hangs well together. I had originally though when I made my piece, "nobody else would be so obvious as to make a rabbit in a hat..." but I was wrong, of course! I particularly liked Susan Wainwright's "Conjuring Trick":
And Anthony Wong's Tommy Cooper-referencing "Spoon-Jar, Jar-Spoon" and "Fez Bracelet":
Terry Hunt's work also displays a sly humour:
And I especially liked Karen Westland's Molecular Cloud:
And Maria Whetman's Material Landscape Cluster:
I would have photographed more but have to confess that the venue is not really suited to a jewellery display. It is very dark, the cabinets are not jewellery cabinets but vitrines which would be more suited to larger works and the lighting is inconsistent.
The show travels on from Brewhouse to The Scottish Gallery in October - where the hanging and display is always impeccable - and to the gallery space at Plymouth College of Art.
I didn't get to see much of the town. All I had previously know about it was that it had been largely a brewing centre and that Jonathan Meades heaped opprobrium upon the planning director who tore down all the Victorian brewery buildings. It is still very much a brewing centre:
and there is still a lot of fine Victorian and Edwardian architecture to be seen.
And back to Birmingham...
I've no idea what these owls are all about but they are everywhere. Some of them are even quite funny, like this one outside the Selfridge's building (by Future Systems). Yet another photograph of this building to my collection!