Things got underway early at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, but this week sees New Art West Midlands 2015 begin in earnest, with exhibitions opening at NAWM’s three other venues. New Art West Midlands collates the work of the region’s most exciting fine-art graduates, with the shows getting underway at the Barber Institute and the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on Friday (February 13), and at the Herbert in Coventry on Saturday (February 14). Check out Brum Notes’ full preview of New Art West Midlands 2015 in this month’s magazine.
And that’s not all there is to delight fans of the visual arts this week. At the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery from Saturday (February 14) there’s Art From Elsewhere, a special selection of works from around the world, brought to the Midlands by the Art Fund International scheme, with the pieces themed around global development and doomed utopia.
Also this week, from Friday (February 13) Centrala presents Blacky, a set of illustrations from one of Eastern Europe’s foremost graphic artists Mateusz Skutnik, depicting the bittersweet experiences of his ageing protagonist. And Ort Gallery’s 2015 programme gets underway on Saturday (February 14) with Painted Clouds, a selection of vivid assemblages from locally-based Italian artist Francesco Polazzi.
The Rep comes up trumps for theatre fans from Monday (February 16) with The Honey Man, an engrossing piece from Birmingham writer Tyrone Huggins, which follows the unlikely relationship between an ageing Caribbean recluse and a teenage heiress.
Elsewhere, there’s moving tragicomedy at the Old Joint Stock from Friday (February 13) as the clown Scaramouche Jones prepares for his poignant final performance, while the Birmingham School of Acting present two shows at the Crescent Theatre from Wednesday (February 18) – Noel Coward’s suburban drama This Happy Breed and the moral conflict of Elizabeth Kuti’s The Sugar Wife.
And the wonderful Third Angel company are still in town, presenting their remarkable, highly-visual piece The Life & Loves Of A Nobody at the Warwick Arts Centre on Thursday (February 12).
Of course, it’s Valentine’s Day on Saturday (February 14), and the Electric Cinema celebrate matters of the heart with special screenings of David Lean’s Brief Encounter, Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and, courtesy of Shock & Gore, Winona Ryder and Christian Slater’s dark 80s comedy Heathers.
Meanwhile, the Mac keeps up its fine programme of world cinema. Opening on Tuesday (February 17), the documentary Open Bethlehem sees director Leila Sansour undertake a life-changing trip back to her home city, while also on Tuesday (February 17), the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme presents Jinx!!!, a romcom in which a Korean exchange student plays matchmaker for her Japanese friends.
