Metropolis: Reflections on the Modern City, Birmingham

Collating a significant collection of international contemporary Art, Metropolis: Reflections on the Modern City opens this week at Gas Hall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Running from 23 March until 23 June, the exhibition contains over 60 works by some of the world’s most exciting artists. All the works display different perspectives of the modern global city from around the world.

Including a variety of media, the exhibition is based around photography, painting, video and sculpture. The artwork, all dating from the past decade by 25 artists of international standing, includes images of the frantic Beijing rush-hour, mysterious and atmospheric views of modern India and the marginalised urban environments of Russia and Paris.

There are several works that have been produced in response to a variety of areas in Birmingham. German artist Christiane Baumgartner has used video and woodcut to create Ladywood, inspired by reflections of a railway bridge onto the canal. Beat Streuli’s video Pallasades follows the crowds walking up and down the ramp to the shopping centre on one day in 2001, showing both the universality and diversity of the human experience. Ola Kolehmainen’s Shadow of Church takes the iconic Selfridges building as its subject, showing the fusion of traditional and modern buildings in Birmingham city centre.

Metropolis: Reflections on the Modern City is a diverse collection of angles of the contemporary world, representing a variety of perspectives and lifestyles.

Metropolis: Reflections on the Modern City, 23 March – 23 June, Gas Hall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3DH.

Credits
1. Nicholas Provost, Storyteller (2010), Video projection, Courtesy the artist.
2. Miao Xiaochun, Orbit (2005) 4 panels, c-print, Courtesy the artist.
3. Ola Kolehmainen, Shadow of Church (2006)2 panels, analogue, c-print © Ola Kolehmainen, Courtesy Purdy Hicks Gallery.