Annual Review: 2024

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.

We also extend a heartfelt thank you to our artists, supporters and partners, Ikon staff team and Board of Trustees. We are especially grateful to our core funders, the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and Birmingham City Council.

Our major partners in 2024 included: The Ampersand Foundation, Arts Connect, ArtsCoop, Arts Council of Ireland, Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Arts School, Birmingham City University, British Council, Changing our Lives, Creative Connections, Culture Ireland, DASH, English Heritage, Fabrica, Fluxus Art Projects, The Foundation Foundation, Freelands Foundation, Handsworth Library, HM Prison and Probation Service, In Certain Places, International Curators Forum (ICF), Jerwood Foundation, Living Well Consortium, macLYON, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust, The National Gallery, ORT Gallery, Saintbury Trust, Site Gallery, Transport for West Midlands, University of Birmingham, University of Wolverhampton, Vivid Projects.

Please continue to support Ikon by visiting our exhibitions; taking part in an event or workshop; joining our Patrons group; making a donation when you can; choosing our independent shop for your gifts; or hiring our rooms for work events. By engaging with Ikon in these ways you are helping to keep the gallery free for all.

Ikon’s 60th year began with Start the Press! an exhibition of printmaking, focused around an antique flatbed printing press from Wolverhampton School of Art; and a solo exhibition by Birmingham artist Exodus Crooks, in which a succession of profound experiences converged to form an allegory of personal stories of love, loss and pain. Later in the year Ikon and University of Birmingham presented We need 2 tlk, a new commission by Exodus, at The Exchange in Centenary Square.

In the summer, Ikon was proud to be a partner in National Treasures, a key strand of the programme celebrating the National Gallery’s Bicentenary, NG200. Ikon presented a masterpiece by Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654 or later), Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (about 1615-17), Wrapped around the Gentileschi work was a solo exhibition by contemporary Irish artist Jesse Jones, which considered art history, cinema, feminism, ritual and healing.

Also in the summer, Ikon hosted the first major solo exhibition for British artist Dion Kitson, Rue Britannia, expanding his ongoing dissection of British class and identity. Off-site Kitson presented Silver Lining, a new commission for English Heritage at JW Evans Silver Factory in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter.

Autumn saw the gallery open its current exhibition, Friends in Love and War – L’Éloge des meilleur·es ennemi·es which continues to 23 February 2025. Curated collaboratively with macLYON, the show presents works by over twenty artists from the British Council Collection and macLYON that explore the theme of friendship.

Ikon’s exhibitions also toured, including Mit Jai Inn’s exhibition, Dreamworld, to MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Foka Wolf’s installation Why Are We Stuck in Hospital? to Site Gallery, Sheffield and Fabrica, Brighton, commissioned by University of Birmingham.

This year Ikon announced renewed funding for Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) from Freelands Foundation for three years (2024-2027). The group of young people, aged 16-21, have continued to activate a converted narrowboat as an alternative art school and explore the rich heritage of Birmingham and the West Midlands. In 2024, IYP produced a printmaking showcase with artists Taiba Akhtar and Fae Kilburn at Ikon, and a jewellery showcase with Dauvit Alexander, Annie Higgins and Andy Marriot – artists associated with the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University – on board Slow Boat.

Ikon also announced the continuation of Art at HMP Grendon, its artist residency at HMP Grendon, Buckinghamshire, for another three years (2024-2026), funded by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust. Artist James Lomax collaborated with community members on A Tale of Two Cities (currently exhibited at Sid Motion Gallery, London until 18 January 2025). Artist and printmaker Simon Harris started an 18-month residency, during which he models painting practice in the prison studio. Ikon has also begun a new artist residency in partnership with HMP Spring Hill, Buckinghamshire, funded by the Rothschild Foundation.

During 2024 Ikon has presented a Creative Health programme of exhibitions and events that engage audiences in dialogue about health and wellbeing. Sally Butcher’s Visible Bodies focused on themes of gender, care and the reproductive and maternal body in relation to Feeding Chair, a collaborative artwork focused on sharing experiences and challenging social attitudes towards infant feeding; and Green Spaces, Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora’s new photographic portraits of Erdington communities, exploring the impact and importance that green spaces have on our mental health (now on display at grounded, Hall Green until 30 March 2025). Recently Ikon hosted (Re)Coded with photographer Vic Moyosola and artist-educator Sadie Barnett, in partnership with the Conjunctures strand of the Stuart Hall Archive Project, University of Birmingham; and Out & About, with Artscoop Central and Edgbaston Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS), which challenged conversations around ageing. The programme contributes a comprehensive evidence base to inform policy development for Birmingham City Council Public Health, such as a creative health strategy.

Ikon began its 60th year with a new fundraising campaign, 60 for 60, asking our visitors and supporters to help the gallery continue its work. Many people chose to donate during this special year and we are grateful for all the support we received.

In March 2024, Ikon announced the new leadership team, with appointments for Ian Hyde, Chief Executive Officer; Melanie Pocock, Artistic Director (Exhibitions); and Linzi Stauvers, Artistic Director (Education).

“To be appointed as Ikon’s leadership team during the gallery’s 60th anniversary is very special. Through this new collaborative structure, covering commercial enterprise, exhibition curation and education practice, we are excited to oversee the future development of Ikon in showcasing the visual arts regionally and internationally. From our gallery in Birmingham, a city built on enlightenment principles, we will forge new cultural, industrial and communal partnerships.” Ian Hyde, Melanie Pocock and Linzi Stauvers

Thanks to funding from the Arts Council England Transform stage two programme, Ikon Shop received a major refresh. Ikon worked with local architects Howells and designers Sculpt Design to create a flexible, open plan environment, improving visitor experience and accommodating more events.

Ikon ends the year with an innovative new partnership, BCU Tuesdays, with Birmingham City University which enables the gallery to open on Tuesdays for a year. Visitors can enjoy an additional day of free entry to our exhibitions, while Ikon also hosts visits from education groups including BCU and regional schools and colleges. BCU Tuesdays furthers Ikon’s commitment to championing arts education which includes working with partners Arts Connect, Creative Connections and Birmingham Arts School, to place artists in regional schools.

Start the Press! was covered by BBC online and Printmaking Today; while Exodus Crooks was interviewed for Young Artists in Conversation.

Our summer exhibitions, National Treasures/Jesse Jones and Dion Kitson received a 5 star review from Laura Cumming, art critic for The Observer. Equally important was Cumming’s heartfelt statement of support for Ikon:

“The Ikon turns 60 this year. This nourishing of local artists is not the least of its colossal cultural significance: there have been so many tremendous shows down the decades. Personally, I can never forget Utamaro, Hiroshige, the tale-pieces of Thomas Bewick, early Mark Wallinger, late Carmen Herrera, back when that incomparable abstract painter was still more or less undiscovered here. The gallery intends to remain open, and free, and so it should – for it, too, is a National Treasure.”

National Treasures was also reviewed by Rachel Spence for The Financial Times, while David Trigg reviewed Dion Kitson’s show for Studio International: “it teases out the beauty in the mundane, finds humour amid the bleakness, and sees poetry in the dilapidated.”

Most recently Friends in Love and War was picked by writer and academic Noreen Masud for her cultural roundup in the Observer New Review and writer Candy Bedworth selected the ‘Top 10 Artworks To See’ in the exhibition forDailyArt Magazine.

Ikon Gallery is open on selected days during the festive period, a perfect time to visit with family and friends. Opening times are available here.

In spring 2025, Ikon presents solo exhibitions by artists Mahtab Hussain and Htein Lin. The former focuses on Birmingham’s Muslim communities, documenting diversity and addressing surveillance culture; the latter manifests individual and artistic freedom against a backdrop of political repression. In summer, the gallery exhibits the vibrant and colourful work of Korean artist Seulgi Lee, alongside Thread the Loom, a show dedicated to weaving, organised in partnership with the Textile Design department at Birmingham City University. The autumn/winter programme features the first major survey of Guyanese artist Donald Locke, organised in collaboration with Spike Island, Bristol and Camden Art Centre, London.

Our full programme for 2025 is available here.

Partners include: Art Fund, The Ampersand Foundation, Birmingham City Council, Birmingham City University, Bloomberg, British Council Connections Through Culture, Camden Art Centre, William A Cadbury Charitable Trust, Deutsche Bank, John Feeney Charitable Trust, Freelands Foundation, Frieze, GRAIN Projects, Kier, Korea Artist Prize Promotion Fund, Marie Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust, Photoworks, HM Prison and Probation Service, Rothschild Foundation, Spike Island, Transport for West Midlands, University of Birmingham.

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Thank you for all the support and we look forward to seeing you again next year.