Dear Birmingham Bloggers,
Perhaps I could be of some help, as some of you seem to have been misinformed.
Yes it's a Mercedes Benz, carefully chosen because it's an S-class W140 (from the mid 90's), it's the same model of car that Princess Diana died in. Getting hold of this particular car took a great deal of time and patience, finding this make, model and year that had been in a serious accident was, as you can imagine no small undertaking. The car is not pristine as Tramp suggests, it was in a head-on smash and rolled down the motorway.
I can't help but wonder if anyone of the bloggers has actually been to the show? I have written a text for the free publication that may go further to explain the reasons for the exhibition. The car is only a small part of the show, there are some more wonderful examples of excellent art inside. I urge you to go and have a look.
Also mention was a problem with funding, well here I can agree that it 'seems' crazy that the Arts Council and local government pour money into what looks like rubbish, or as is now being mentioned by Councilor Dawkins. "The exhibition disturbed me as within it are pictures which are heavily pornographic", but is it really that simple? I think the Arts Council and the local authority should be warmly congratulated, as the other exhibition curator Andrew Hunt (from the IPS gallery), said: "Art is meant to be provocative. "Ballard is fixated with white, middle-class suburbs, which Bournville is. It's holding a mirror to the idea of white ghettoes and the ideology behind them."
As for the Tracey Emin 'con artist' reference, I don't think she'd like this show much at all.
Regards,
Dr. Robert Laing M.D.