Exhibition Reviews

When going to exhibitions and gallery spaces I think about:

1)      The Hanging

2)      How did I find out about it?

3)      Marketing

4)      Quality of the work

5)      Quantity

6)      Are there any plaques with information?

7)      Guides for the work

8)      The flow of the exhibition, does the work link together?

9)      Is the space in the right place?

10)   Who where the artists?

Ikon Gallery - Birmingham

 Robert Orchardson – ‘Endless Facade’ 

 

1)      Some of the pieces weren’t actually hanging they simply leant against the wall and the ones that were seemed to just materialise out of the wall. Very well structured and set out.

2)      I’ve been before to this exhibition space quite a few times, and the events that they part on are usually very good.

3)      They have a website which is quite accessible and a board outside the entrance.  They also had a warning sign very clear to ask you not to touch the work, as some are only leant against the wall.

http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk/

4)      I found the work very interesting with the geometric shapes and the shadows that cast on the floor.  

5)      There was a lot of work he put in the space but thought about what would work with others and what needed to be by itself.

6)      There weren’t individual plaques

7)      The ikon gallery has a guide with all the information needed about the artist and the names of pieces.

8)      Walking through the space everything tied to together very well. They had even made the walls tie in.

9)      The space really worked with the pieces because they used the space well, connecting the walls and the walk ways.

10)   The artist was Robert Orchardson, within his work he likes the audience to engage with the work, not by physically but mentally. Some of his work uses found objects but sometimes you can’t tell whether they were found or not.

Majolijn Dijkman - Theatrum Orbis Terrarrum 

1)      The photographs were laid out really well but I could see some of the pencil marks.

2)      I’ve been before to this exhibition space quite a few times, and the events that they part on are usually very good.

3)      They have a website which is quite accessible and a board outside the entrance.  http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk/

4)      Some of the images were very well photographed but I did see quite a few that didn’t and needed a bit more work

5)      There was a lot of work because of the photographs but it worked well with the amount.

6)      Each piece had a plaque and also the information was in the guide.

7)      The ikon gallery has a guide with all the information needed about the artist and the names of pieces.

8)      I don’t think the flow of the exhibition really worked. I believe if it just had the photographs running through it and didn’t have anything in the middle or a video disrupting the flow it would have worked better.

9)      The space is right for the photographs, classic white walls, bringing the photographs out, and easy to see each piece.

10)   The artist was Majolijn Dijkman

In conclusion the Ikon gallery is really professionally done. The staff was really helpful answering my questions and telling me even more information. The space is laid out well with them even changing the walls to fit the theme of the artists.

Castle Galleries - Collectable Fine Art and Contemporary Sculpture - Birmingham

1)      I was really impressed with the hanging of the pieces in this gallery space. I couldn’t see any of the attachments and the main body of work was at eye level.

2)      I was on my way to the Ikon Gallery and was walking through the ICC in Birmingham and found it on the way.

3)      There was a board outside the gallery with information and with a web address which is: http://www.castlegalleries.com/

4)      The quality of the work was very good, and was quite upmarket. The pieces where being sold as well.

5)      There was quite a lot of work in there for a small space, but it didn’t look over crowded. The only problem I found was that it was quite dark in there.

6)      They did have plaques but only with names, title and materials. I do like to have a bit more information when I am looking through a gallery.

7)      There were no guides, but with this particular space it wasn’t needed. The workers were quite helpfully though.

8)      The gallery did flow quite nicely. Quite a small place but they have managed it very well.

9)      I think the space is well located as it is right next to the symphony hall, so when people are coming through it they will have a look inside.

10)   A few of the artists where:

·         Richard Rowan, ‘Land of Promise’, original oil on glass

·         Bob Barker

·         Bob Dylan

·         Bill Bate

In conclusion I really liked this space the staff were helpful and the flow of the gallery was very good. The location was just right aswell, and I think the fact it wasn't a white gallery space really worked.

The Number Nine Gallery - Birmingham

1)      The hang in the exhibition wasn’t as professional as I thought it would be. Some of the paintings had gone crooked, and the space was very small and crowded, and a lot of the work was out of reach.

2)      I found it when I was looking on the internet for current exhibitions,

3)      There was a sign around the corner from the gallery guiding you to the space. http://www.numberninethegallery.com/index_numbernine.php?page=home

4)      The quality of the work was very good, and there was such a variety of work

5)      In my opinion I found that there was too much to look at and some of the work was in strange places under a stair case which really was inaccessible

6)      They did have plaques with name, title and materials

7)      No guides

8)      The space was so small that I didn’t get a good feel to the place. I spoke to the man in charge and he didn’t make any eye contact and as soon as he knew I was a student he didn’t take much interest.

9)      The space was in the right place as it is an up market area.

10)   Some of the artists were:

·         John Mould – ‘Landscape’ ’Pathways V’ – Original Acrylic on Canvas

·         David Begble


In conclusion this wasn't my favourite space that I saw, the hanging wasn't thought out very well and the staff werent very helpful.

White Wall Gallery - Birmingham

1)      The Hang is the space was really well done. Very professional and clean cut.

2)      I have been to this space before when Rolf Harris’s work was there and was very keen on looking at some of the other pieces that they had in.

3)      They have a website and a board outside.

http://www.whitewallgalleries.com/?gclid=COSJ6L2arKgCFcIMfAodzxINbQ

4)      The quality of the artists work was of very high quality.

5)      There was a lot of work but each artist had about the same amount of space each. So it didn’t look too cramped.

6)      They did have plaques with name, title and materials but also had more information on each of the artists, which I find really helpful.

7)      There weren’t any guides but it wasn’t really a big space so guides weren’t needed.

8)      There was a really nice flow to the exhibition, they really thought about which artist went with which.

9)      I think the space could have been put in a better spot as it was between some food shops and cafes, it would have been better if it was put where The Number 9 Gallery in Brindley place.

10)   Some of the artists in the gallery space were:

·         Jeremy Sanders

·         Ben Payne

·         Graham Milton

·         Henderson Cisz

·         Duncan Mc Gregor

·         Philip Gray

In conclusion I thought the space of the exhibition was really well put together, the staff were really helpful, but I think the location of the space could have been better.

Opening Night of 'M - Exhibition' and Exhibition Review...

     Some of the work ...

       Lucy Webb - As Cold As Ice    Karoline White - Untitled

 

Markus Stefan -  

M - Exhibition Review

In the beginning we did have a space that the college was giving us, but we as a group we decided that we wanted to go with our own space, which I believe makes the exhibition more unique and ours.

When we got into the space I found that the practicality of the space was quite low. As it was very damp and the logistics team had a hard time with the moisture, as some of the boards became quite damp and weren’t drying out. We had the same problem with the paint, it just didn’t seem to dry. The layout of the boards was put together really well.

The marketing team did an amazing job at designing the posters and flyers. The M website has been a hit. The way they have laid it out looks very professional. The only problem I had was that I don’t believe that they sent out a press release for the show, which would have been very beneficial.

We did have a problem with the catalogue, the curating team had spent quite a lot of time and energy on the catalogue but in the end we didn’t have enough funds to produce it, which was a shame. The hanging of the exhibition went quite well the curators did a good job of that. With just a few tweaks that needed to be done when all the work was in. I found because of the uniqueness of the exhibition space some of the work didn’t seem to fit there, but on the other hand it complemented some others.

Out of each group there was only a few that pulled their weight to put on the exhibition, and the people that did do the work did an amazing job.

Opening night was very successful, and the audience seemed to mainly consist of fellow students and parents, which to me seems about right it this stage of our career.

In my opinion the plaques with our names on them were in the wrong place. They should have been higher up to the right of the piece of work. Reading the piece left to right. So the viewer can view the piece then find out more information. I believe in some situations there needs to be information on each piece as it becomes quite confusing to the viewer to identify which piece is which. The height of the white walls I found was an issue for some of the pieces as they didn’t seem to fit in with the urban look of the space and more suited to a white gallery space. There was too much visual noise around them.

I think that it would have been more beneficial to personally invite people to the opening night. People from newspapers and galleries etc. We could have also made the exhibition open to the local community by researching it in advance and making the show relevant.

Overall I found the experience of the exhibition one I will never forget. Even though it was very stressful I enjoyed it and would like to do it again. I have learnt quite a lot over the past few weeks.

Setup of 'M - Exhibition'