Visual Arts August .qxp_Layout 1 19/07/2022 10:14 Page 2
Visual Arts previews from around the region
Visual Arts
West Midlands Open New Art Gallery, Walsall, until Wed 25 September
Featuring 250 artworks in various media, West Midlands Open is the result of a call-out to artists across the region, including those currently studying or who have been educated locally in the past 10 years. One of the exhibiting artists will be selected for a residency in the New Art Gallery’s Artists’ Studio at a later date. Visitors to the exhibition will also be asked to vote for their favourite on-display artwork.
Taking Root: The Sustaining Life Of Trees The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, until 16 October
Presenting artworks from the Barber’s own collection, Taking Root considers the ways in which artists across the centuries have engaged with trees - studying them to develop their powers of observation, or making use of them as compositional
devices or to chart the changing seasons. The exhibition has been inspired by Birmingham 2022 Festival’s theme of ‘nature’, which has been programmed around the Commonwealth Games.
The Magic Of Middle-Earth Worcester City Art Gallery, until Sat 17 September
A free exhibition celebrating JRR Tolkien’s fantasy world, The Magic Of Middle-Earth features more than 200 rare books - including first-edition copies - ‘stunning’ paintings of dragons, ents and elves, dramatic models and dioramas (including The Battle Of Helms Deep) and Middle-Earthinspired video games and Lego sets. The exhibition has been mounted by collector Matt Fox, whose previous display, the Star Warsthemed May The Toys Be With You, showed at Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum in 2019.
We Are Birmingham Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, until Sun 30 October
Black Country Beats Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sun 4 September The Black Country music scene falls under the spotlight in this new exhibition, running across the summer to coincide with the cultural activities taking place around the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. From glam rock giants Slade through to the rise of bhangra in Wolverhampton,
Opened back in April alongside the relaunch of BMAG’s iconic Round Room, We Are Birmingham not only reflects and celebrates the city as it is today but also investigates its aspirations for the future. The exhibition has been co-curated by Birmingham Museums and six members of Don’t Settle - an initiative empowering young people of colour from Birmingham and the Black Country ‘to change the voice of heritage through the arts, research and governance’.
the display explores the way in which the region’s music has been shaped and influenced by social and political change since the mid-20th century. The show also celebrates the imminent reopening of Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall, one of the UK’s best-known live-music venues. whatsonlive.co.uk 35
