Ikon announces 2025 exhibition & education programmes

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.

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. 

Left: Mahtab Hussain, Faizal Islam Masjid, Birmingham (2024). From the series What Did You Want To See? (2024). Digital C – Type print. Courtesy Mahtab Hussain.

Right: Htein Lin, Sitting at Iron Gate (2002) from the series 000235 (1998-2004). © Courtesy the artist.

In the 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. 

Left: Seulgi Lee, SLOW WATER, exhibition view, Incheon Art Platform (2021). Image courtesy the artist and Incheon Art Platform.

Right: AVL Studio Dobby loom, Birmingham City University (2024). Image courtesy Ikon. Photo by Tegen Kimbley.

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. 

Left: Donald Locke, Plantation Series X/1 (1973). Ceramic, steel, vinyl, formica. 32 x 25.5 x 28 cm, 12 5/8 x 10 x 11 in. Courtesy Estate of Donald Locke and Alison Jacques, London. © Estate of Donald Locke. Photo: Michael Brzezinski.

Right: Donald Locke, Village Square (1974). Wood, vinyl, ceramic, stainless steel. 33 x 36.5 x 22.7 cm, 13 x 14 3/8 x 9 in. Courtesy Estate of Donald Locke and Alison Jacques, London. © Estate of Donald Locke. Photo: Michael Brzezinski.

Ikon’s BCU Tuesdays partnership with Birmingham City University enables the gallery to open to the public every Tuesday for a year, providing opportunities for outreach with regional secondary schools. This complements programmes of Creative Education, with school, college and university partners, and Creative Health, informing policy development at Birmingham City Council’s Public Health Division.

Left: Primary school storytelling session led by Birmingham City University PGCE students (2024). Image courtesy Ikon.

Right: Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora, Jane lying down (2024). Photographed at Spring Lane playing fields, a place of solace and company over the past few tumultuous years. Image courtesy the artist.

With renewed funding from Freelands Foundation for three years (2024-2027), Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) continues to activate a converted narrowboat, Slow Boat, as an alternative art school.

Left: IYP and artist Dylan Fox on Slow Boat, 2024.

Right: IYP and students from MA Arts and Education Practices, BCU on Slow Boat, 2024.

Ikon’s Art in Prisons programme sees the development of artistic practice within dedicated studio spaces at HMP Grendon, supported by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust for another three years (2024-2026), and HMP Spring Hill, funded by the Rothschild Foundation (2025).