Now being a southern workshy fop I’m not too au fait with what’s going down (or should that be up?) Birmingham way, that’s Birmingham UK not Alabama in case you think I’m pulling a transatlantic fast one on you. I’ll tell you what I do know about this Midlands city.
1) It has more canals than Venice.
2) The Brummies are rapidly adopting an Estuary English accent.
3) It has a large shopping mall called The Bullring.
4) James Watt, inventor of the light bulb harks from these parts.
5) It’s the home to Jibbering Art.
I only discovered that last fact in the past few days. Roaming around the net in the wee hours, following a trail of urban art blogs and the occasional under-administrated Wikipedia page, I finally came across this Birmingham-based gallery. Jibbering Art describe themselves as "curating a beast of an art exhibition in an old warehouse, slap bang in the middle of Birmingham’s creative hub, Digbeth." They feature an eclectic mix of UK graffiti pioneers and new wave street artists with a wide range of interesting unique works for sale on-line and off-line.
They hold exhibitions, sell original works and also prints, and the prices are pretty reasonable too. The first piece to catch my eye, mainly because I’m not a fan of jewellery was Neck Tar by Jinpow. I know some of you (mainly blokes) are scratching your heads by now, wondering why on Earth I’ve gone all Elizabeth Duke on you, but don’t worry, the piece is suitably subversive.
Jinpow aka Matt Robinson is a complicated guy, a lot of his work is a little over the top for me, works like Sick Cloud make me appreciate the time and effort but the end result is somewhat overpowering. But scaled down, in small doses, I think that a little Jinpow madness is good for the soul. I love the deliberately gaudy nature of Neck Tar. I’ve never worn any jewellery, perhaps because in my eyes it all looks a little like this, at least Jinpow is being honest about it. A Frankenstinian monster of preciousness gone bad. Anti-coolness abounds. Plus it’s only £30.
Ever played around with a Ouija Board? These works by Kid Acne really stand out for me, I and my other half Chris can loosely be termed as ex-hippies. We don’t have the straggly hair, we don’t smoke doobs until dawn, we don’t hover around the Tor at Winter Solstice – but we used to. Chris still thinks that Ouija Boards are inherently evil, that they open a vortex to some dark place infested with tortured souls and harbingers of doom. I’m not so sure, still the fact that I haven’t ever tried one might account for something. Most likely my fears that nothing at all worth noting and I will be left with metaphorical egg on my face, or more likely ectoplasm. The fact is that these simple devices still hold a great deal of iconographic power over the British culture.
Still they’re kinda cute eh? The price is a little hefty at £475, but maybe that’s for all six, I didn’t enquire in case an evil spirit forced me to max out a credit card. Screen printed on wood 49×35cm they look rather snazzy, more cheerful than I expected, they’re also on show at Jibbering Art’s latest exhibition (along with Neck Tar) in case you’re milling around Digbeth in Birmingham. Whatever you do don’t go summoning up Charlie Manson or Hitler with one of these. Here’s a fave of mine by Kid Acne, it’s a cover art design for Beck’s Music Inspired Art Project (that’s the beer not the band). It’s Paul’s Boutique by The Beastie Boys done in his Stephen Wiltshire style << do check out this guy too – photographic memory – crazy genius.
Anyway moving along…
Zoot’s has been on the Birmingham scene under different guises for at least a decade, his paste up’s are bizarre, packed with mismatching typography and misinformation – almost like ransom notes. The images are highly contrasted with grainy halftones and when you spot a Zoot you know it’s Zoot. I’ve seen his work around London, according to J.A his work stretches as far as Berlin these days. Here’s my favourite at Jibbering.
Black & Blue by Zoot – 2 layer screen print, hand pulled by the artist. Limited edition of 10. Just £40!
Here’s a coup, they’re selling Dr T by Sweet Toof – hand coloured lino cut, framed and a ginormous 5 ft x 4ft. The price is gigantic too at £2300.00 – but it does come framed. Phew.
Here’s an old favourite on the scene – originally a Bristolian he moves around these days - Inkie. I do like the feminine twist in this piece – Dorian Grey who is by all standards hot. A smidgeon of Fairey in this one too.
Check out the site or visit them at Jibbering Art, 136 Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 8EE –
0121 4494551 art@jibbering.co.uk.
Tags: Birmingham, Digbeth, gallery, Inkie, Jibbering Art, jibberingart.co.uk, Kid Acne, street art, Sweet Toof, urban art, Zoot
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