The Manchester International Festival is nearly upon us and the lineup this year is certainly eclectic and exciting.  I am sure even the most difficult to please should unearth something to tickle their fancy.

I have my eye on a few things:

• … popping into the Manchester Art Gallery to catch a glimpse of London-based architect Zaha Hadid’s modern music hall creation. It is  temporary installation and by the look of the images this is a must-see.  I like the fact that you can take a peak for free during the day.  If you can make it during a lunchtime there are even free recital’s planned by RNCM and Chetham’s music students, so this beautiful space can be given a voice.
• … attending the “A Celebration of Manchester Talent” chat with Guy Garvey from Elbow, the angel-voiced crumpled genius who fronts one of my favourite bands.  A perfect chance to see what the Festival’s Pavillion Theatre looks like and I am sure Guy will be as charming as he is on his 6 Music Show.
• … attending the Jeremy Deller Mancunian “Procession” which sounds like an inspirational artistic and community use of Deansgate for an hour or so.
• … there will be a public art piece “Flailing Trees’ by Gustav Metzger sited in the Peace Gardens just near Canal Street.

If anyone has a spare ticket to donate to me I would quite like to see what happens at the Velodrome when Kraftwerk are allowed to run amock and also what Rufus Wainwright creates for his first opera to be premiered at the Palace Theatre.

That Festival Feast sounds a great idea too, but it sold out weeks ago so I shall have to keep checking for returns along with every other Mancunian food lover.

UPDATE : For anyone that missed it (me included as I had to work yesterday!) a nice little 5 minute piece on the Jeremy Deller curated “Procession” along Deansgate is over on the BBC Manchester website.  The steel band version of The Buzzcocks “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” is a real crowd-pleaser.

The appetite for owning original works of art has grown steadily over recent years.  Maybe because it is one way to make a house feel individual in these times of flatpack ubiquity.  A well-chosen piece of art can reflect a chink of character of the owner and prompt a smile or moment of pause in the thick of our busy lives.  No bad thing at all and not something that often happens with a Billy Bookcase.

I’ve been asked the question a few times this year “Where can I buy affordable original art?”.  As I am based in Manchester my answer is somewhat limited but here are the options that I know about in my locality:-

• ArTzu Gallery on Ancoats near the Art Deco Express Building.
• Artland Gallery under the Quaker Meeting House opposite Central Library, Manchester.  An exciting new venue which ran a stunning exhibition of Jan Chlebik‘s  cityscape photography recently, latest exhibition is by New York Times photographer Christoph Bangert (see image above).
• Blyths art gallery central Manchester.
• Castlefield Gallery close to Deansgate Metro Station.
• Colin Jellicoe Portland Street, Manchester.
• Comme Ca Art various spots including upstairs at the prestigious Lowry Hotel, Salford/Manchester border.
• Cornerhouse Projects (downstairs in the bar) close to Oxford Road Station, Manchester.
• Cube Gallery (architectural related work)  see upcoming exhibiton from award-winning photographer John Davies.
• Islington Mill, Salford/Manchester border.  Growing artists collective with studios and galleries, often special previews & shows.
• The Lowry, Salford/Manchester border.  Has occasional exhibitions and work for sale from artists (often local).
• Manchester Craft and Design Centre Favourite spot for emerging work, textiles, painting, photography …. all sorts.
• Mooch Art new venture in Northern Quarter plus online gallery selling mostly local artists; painting and photography.
• Revolve Gallery used to be Manchester-based, moved in Sept 2010 to an impressive space in Clitheroe (just north of Preston in the Ribble Valley).
• Richard Goodall Gallery Northern Quarter, mostly illustration and photography linked with music promotion and posters, had Leonard Cohen’s work on show last year.
• Waterside Arts Centre (Sale) nice Gallery space featuring local artists all media from painting, photography through to mixed meda and between.
• Wendy Levy Gallery very respected Gallery based in West Didsbury top notch artists represented here including Liam Spencer.

Finally, just in case you find galleries a little intimidating, then you might want to check out a new event on the calender, it’s the Buy Art Fair 24-27 Sept 2009 which enjoyed a very special inaugural launch last year with 3,200 visitors and over 200 artists on display, well staged at the nice, light and airy Urbis, Manchester.  Never spend more than the price of a new sofa, prove your skill at spotting new talent, support creativity and art, make your home original and breathtaking and you never know you might make some money on it too!

UPDATE : For an alternative take, check out a great blog run by a New York Gallery owner Ed Winkleman.  His blog is a really useful place to pick up terrific candid advice on the art world, the nitty gritty of running a Fine Art gallery and to see how sales are going on the other side of the pond.

Award-winning local artist Ben Kelly had a busy time last week.  Sadly, I couldn’t make his Preview Night due to work commitments, but judging by all the feedback and coverage, things went very well indeed.

His exhibition is called “Painting the Blues” and features new work created over the last 12 months.   The aim was to capture the highs and lows of Manchester City Football Club.  Any City fan knows more than most, the world of football is a hugely unpredictable one, where “emotions change from triumph to despair in the space of ninety minutes”.

Even for a club with Manchester City’s history, the last 12 months have been a rollercoaster, yet Ben was given free rein by City to wander wherever he wanted, with unprecedented access to witness activity behind the scenes  aswell as the regular matchday frenzy.  One has to congratulate the club for creating the opportunity for an artist to try and capture the season on canvas and as a huge City fan this was pretty much a dream assignment for Ben.

He is certainly an artist on the rise; having won a massive £15,000 in December 2006 in a competition organised by the Lowry and Umbro called “One Love – The Football Art Prize”.  He beat 800 other artists from all over the country to scoop the prize when his painting “The Final Whistle” was chosen by a panel of judges, one of whom was Turner Prize winner Mark Wallinger (in the news this week with his ‘Angel of the South’ White Horse commission).

Next project on the horizon was an exhibition at the prestigious Cheshire gallery Firob & Peacock in Knutsford.   This work showcased some of Ben’s landscape paintings; each piece took the viewer by the hand on a beautiful foray into the woods.  Featuring forests and icy stillness, this exhibition was full of intense atmospherics, Lowry-esque figures almost lost within impossibly elongated trees.  Delicate tints and the occasional dramatic splash of vividity created wonderfully engaging work.

Grab the chance while you can, and see Ben Kelly’s latest work here in Manchester at the City of Manchester Stadium Museum, open now and ending on the 31st March 2009.  All work is for sale, though I understand quite a few were snapped up at the Preview.

Which leads me on to the subject of my next post …. “Where can I buy original Art in Manchester and why should I?”.   Yes indeedee, coming soon … check back on the blog tomorrow (probably!).