Since Opus began collaborating two years ago with Ikon, the contemporary art gallery in Brindleyplace, we have come to see the power of contemporary visual art and how it can challenge us to view and understand the world in a completely different way.
Our collection of prints has been chosen because it has an instinctive connection to the restaurant, either through its palette, the medium, or the subject matter; sometimes all three!
The collection has been acquired from a number of sources, including private collection, Lee Benson at Number Nine the Gallery Birmingham, the Wiseman Gallery Oxford, and our great friend and designer Suzanne Barnes who, through her work as Director of Art Event for Cure Leukaemia, has introduced us to a selection of local artists. Suzanne was awarded the BdI Industry and Genius Award of Excellence in 2007 for her imaginative design in 2005 for Opus Restaurant. This year she designed our new little sister, Cafe Opus at Ikon.
All framing has been done by Elba Design 0121 236 8491
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Victoria Linehan (1944 - ) Snowshill, 2007
Born in Melbourne, Victoria is now resident in Birmingham, educated at the Birmingham Institute of Art, BA Honours Fine Art: Master printmaker; she is a member of Birmingham Printmakers.
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Colin Howkins (1936-) Across the valley, 2011
Colin Howkins studied at Birmingham College of Art and Design and Trent College in Nottingham, gaining International recognition as an abstract artist of importance. His paintings are vibrant and expressive; his abstract compositions are reminiscent of American abstract expressionist works from the 1950’s-60’s. Now residing in Wales, this view is taken from the walkway at the bottom of his garden along the woods.
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Tim Southall - Walk in the snow
Tim Southall is a printmaker and painter. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, he works extensively in etching and silkscreen. Using a lively hand, he creates pictures with diverse subject matter. From the mythological to the whimsical or the grandeur of a sweeping landscape, the common thread that unties his work is a vitality of line and freshness of approach that embraces life.
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Brian Rice (1936 -) Satellite Z
Born in Yeovil, Somerset in 1936, Brian studied art firstly at Yeovil School of Art then at Goldsmith's College, London. During the 1960s he produced luminous, hard edged abstract paintings and prints. By the mid 1970s he retreated to the West Country to concentrate on his farming and teaching. Enriched by his confidence in printmaking, Rice returned to the art world in the 1980s.
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Ann Crews ‘Cello Variations II',1998
Ann is a Birmingham artist and is a member of Birmingham Printmakers
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Victoria Linehan - Farmhouses
Born in Melbourne, Victoria is now resident in Birmingham, educated at the Birmingham Institute of Art, BA Honours Fine Art: Master printmaker; she is a member of Birmingham Printmakers
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Louise Davies ‘Across the Bay’
Etching on paper 24/75
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Peter Lanyon ‘In the Trees’
Peter Lanyon was born in St Ives and was a central figure in the St Ives School which included Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo. Known for his innovative approach to landscape, he included in his painting the natural and the man made, historical and the contemporary. He dispensed with conventional composition and perspective which is sometimes from above.
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M S Partridge ‘Division’ 1997
Original lithograph 4/4
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Pete Marsh - Café Barca
Pete Marsh attempts to produce something that expresses what he and his audience feels. His work is emotional rather than intellectual and he prefers expression over realism.
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Brian Rice, (1936 - ) 157 and 2 dots
Born in Yeovil, Somerset in 1936, Brian studied art firstly at Yeovil School of Art then at Goldsmith's College, London. During the 1960s he produced luminous, hard edged abstract paintings and prints. By the mid 1970s he retreated to the West Country to concentrate on his farming and teaching. Enriched by his confidence in printmaking, Rice returned to the art world in the 1980s.
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Geoffrey Robinson (1945- ) Three Fishes
‘My approach to painting has always been to look inside myself, rather than to interpret what goes in through my eyes. I make the paintings I want to see. To look inside one’s self is to find memories of other art, dreams, poetries, pleasing rhythms and colours. Everything is abstract when you look inside yourself.’
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Peter Yates (1920-1982) Boscastle, Cornwall
An architect and painter based in Newcastle, Peter Yates fought in Normandy before entering Paris, where he met Le Corbusier who became a life long friend. You can see the influence of Le Corbusier’s uncompromising geometric lines in his painting.
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Peter Lanynon (1918-1964) ‘Underground’ 1951 25/500
Peter Lanyon was born in St Ives and was a central figure in the St Ives School which included Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo. Known for his innovative approach to landscape, he included in his painting the natural and the man made, historical and the contemporary. He dispensed with conventional composition and perspective which is sometimes from above.