We are excited to announce Ikon is part of the Birmingham Light Festival! Join us on Friday 21 February as we light up Ikon – with free creative workshops and performances during the day (2-5pm) and a candle-lit, ceremonial ‘clipping’ of Ikon Gallery as the sun sets (5-7pm).

We caught up with Rosie Abbey, Ikon Youth Programme Coordinator, to hear about this year’s highlights for Ikon Youth Programme and Slow Boat.

We would like to thank everyone who has visited Ikon Gallery this year – Ikon’s 60th anniversary – to experience art for free. Ikon remains committed to its core aims: to offer the very best in contemporary art to the region’s residents and visitors; to support local and international artists, both emerging and established in their careers; to stay relevant in a changing world, addressing important social concerns; and remaining free for all our visitors.

Ikon presents a solo exhibition, What Did You Want To See? by British artist Mahtab Hussain (20 March – 1 June 2025).

Ikon is pleased to announce an innovative new partnership with Birmingham City University (BCU) which enables the gallery to open on Tuesdays for a year (October 2024 – September 2025).

We caught up with the new members of Ikon’s Exhibitions team: Daphne Chu, Curator and Amrit Sanghera, Curatorial Fellow (supported by the Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship).

Choose Ikon Gallery for your Christmas shopping this year!

Ikon is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition and education programmes for 2025. Established as an artists-led alternative space in the Bullring in 1964, Ikon remains free to all and committed to showcasing the very best of British and international art.

Simon J. Harris is Ikon’s Artist in Residence at HMP Grendon. James Latunji-Cockbill, Ikon’s Producer, Art in Prisons, interviews the artist after his first three months of working at the prison.

We caught up with Claire Buckerfield, an artist whose prints are stocked at Ikon Shop.

Ikon presents a programme of exhibitions and events that engage audiences in dialogue about health and wellbeing. Conversations range from infant feeding in public spaces and the medicalisation of maternal bodies to the impact of natural environments on our physical and mental health.

Ikon, in partnership with Transport for West Midlands (TFWM), has commissioned Black Country artist Tom Hicks to co-create a new public sculpture with members of the local community at the Cross Street Local Travel Point in Halesowen – a public green space providing options for active and environmentally friendly local travel. We caught up with Tom Hicks for an update on the project.

Ikon is pleased to announce that artist James Lomax is undertaking a two-month residency at HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire, funded by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.

Ikon is pleased to announce Sally Butcher as artist-in-residence for Feed, organised in collaboration with Birmingham City Council and In Certain Places.

Ikon is pleased to announce the leadership team taking the gallery forward in its 60th year.    The Board of Trustees have made permanent appointments for Ian Hyde, Chief Executive Officer; Melanie Pocock, Artistic Director (Exhibitions); and Linzi Stauvers, Artistic Director (Education). 

Ikon hosts Midlands-based artist Exodus Crooks’ exhibition Epiphany (Temporaire). Curated by Orphée Kashala, we asked him a few questions about himself and his experience working with Exodus Crooks.

Writer Ruth Millington caught up with Start the Press! printmakers Haseebah Ali and Taiba Akhtar, who are making work in response to the Birmingham Qur’an and Mingana Collection at University of Birmingham.

People living in Erdington and the local area are invited to join Birmingham-born artist Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora for a series of free photo-walks and workshops in and around Erdington High Street and Rookery Park. Exploring our personal stories and experiences of mental health in green spaces, the sessions include photography, walking and writing to create our own artworks.  

Ikon, in partnership with Transport for West Midlands, has commissioned Black Country artist Tom Hicks to co-create a new public sculpture with members of the local community at the Cross Street Local Travel Point in Halesowen – a public green space providing options for active and environmentally friendly local travel.

Reflections on IYP and Ashokkumar D Mistry showcase by Sonia Boué.

Learn more about Ikon Shop’s refurbishment. Ikon Shop reopens on Thursday 8 February.

We would like to thank everyone who has visited Ikon Gallery this year to experience art for free and all those who have participated in our off-site projects, talks, tours and workshops.