IKON Gallery Reviews

Great gallery right next to the canal. Saw an amazing exhibition of Hew Locke. Really beautiful space, lovely, knowledgeable staff and brilliant gift shop.

Always brilliant, thought provoking exhibitions. And a fantastic shop - great for gift buying!

Nice gallery. Staff in shop rather surly on my visit

It's well worth having a look round this small free gallery which I do believe is supported by charity. The staff were welcoming and friendly and it's always interesting to view modern art because I usually find that there is one piece which will make you very glad you came
The interior of the building is pretty cool too!
I took our son (11) and he enjoyed it.

Beautiful stuff - shop sells very expensive stuff; albeit beautiful

Brilliant little art gallery, showcasing mostly modern art and a great bookshop and cafe too. Entrance is free.

Great staff, exhibtion good and cafe have great drink and food

Small gallery but has some interesting things to see. Staff are very knowledgeable and engage well with the public. It also has a great cafe and outdoor terrace.

Really great afternoon spent at the gallery. Fully recommend visiting all the exhibitions if you can :)

Wonderful gallery! Be sure to visit the restaurant for some fantastic food after.

10/10

Lots of interesting exhibitions and a great gift shop.

The exhibitions are constantly changing and are always fascinating and varied

Beautiful building.....helpful & polite staff & a GREAT lift !

A nice venue. It is nice to have a free gallery around

Loved the gallery. It's a famous art gallery and almost everyday there is an exhibition or two.

There is also a store at the ground floor to buy postcards/souvenirs. The interior of this place was magnificent. Loved visiting there.

I Love my art, if u Do too. Add it to visiting list. It's worth it

A great little gallery, supported by your donations. Organised and friendly don't miss this little place. I viewed the Kristof Kintera exhibition superb. Great to see the gallery supporting new and upcoming artists.

Small but beautifully designed and not to be missed. The elevator ride alone will keep everyone in the family happy!! Stunning! Also lovely restaurant for before or after!

Small and consise would check opening times and what's on as have been caught out by that a few times.

A wonderful venue for showcasing contemporary art. Deserves more support!

Just a real treasure, fab exhibitions, shop and cafe

I love the Ikon, great variety of artists featured and love the cafe!

Awesome gallery of contemporary art. Very knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff and guides

A nice cultural stop in Brum. Take the singing lift for bonus points.

I really nice place to spend with your kids after a good walk. The staff were very friendly and polite. The food was very good with this beautiful chips! For a cafe shop much better than some of the restaurants. Thank you for your attention. Well done

The exhibitions are free and it allows you to look and understand new art and subjects you had never come across. Good for those interested in galleries and need inspiration.

Always interesting and challenging. But it's it art? Go and find out!

Always brilliant and thought provoking. Great cafe too.

I love the Ikon gallery
Every new exhibition offers new information and perspective, the harmonic lift they have installed as a constant art piece makes the glass elevator trip bareable (not a problem if you don't mind lifts).
Freindly staff with expert knowledge on the artists; with attached yorks cafe it's perft for a day out

Love the Ikon Gallery. It is a really nice exhibition space in a historic building in the middle of Brindley place which is a nice part of Birmingham. The gallery is spread over two floors and there is a nice little restaurant/ cafe downstaitrs. The exhibitions are really varied and I have seen some really great stuff here in the past. As there is no entrance fee it is definitely worth a visit and they often have some food names exhibiting here.

Classic Birmingham school building with modern art interior.

Lovely artistic space... make sure you use the lift!!

It's hip, it's cultured, it's free....but I never want to stay for more than 10 minutes. I think it's something about the feng shui. So much metal...maybe a warm colour and an indoor water feature would make it more welcoming.

Lovely place. Nice and clean with friendly staff. Some exhibitions are better than others but it's a question of personal taste. Free entry.

Can vary on experience depending on exhibits so that will hinder the result but shows what a contemporary gallery should be

Beautiful contemporary art gallery with regular, challenging exhibitions. Excellent programming includes local and international artists.

Was a beautiful gallery that showed me a lot about life and it's intricacies.

Beautiful place to take pictures and an amazing gallery with great gift shop

Free entry. Not the biggest gallery but still a good way to kill half an hour

We love going to the Ikon gallery as a family. Occasionally, one of the exhibitions may not be very suitable for children so it's a good to check.

Very interesting art gallery, modern installation art placed in a red brick building.

A superb independent contemporary art gallery set in a converted Victorian building close to Brindley Place.

We saw the John Walker exhibition inspired by the coastal landscape of Maine in the United States.

There's a gift shop and a nice looking cafe too.

I always find Ikon to be a welcome and nicely unpretentious space. Exhibitions are well planned and even the kids enjoyed it.

One of the picture below is by my daughter, can you guess which one?

This venue has a nice feel with small Galleries and a good restaurant. Could do with hosting work from more mainstream visual artists more frequently.

exhibition wow wow this exhibition will take your imagination to new places

Although the art on show at the time did not meet my fancy, it did provide something to talk about, have fun with and discuss. The building is lovely and beautiful, the glass elevator at the side of the staircase is brilliant - definitely travel in it at least up/down one floor and the art book shop was divine, with a great curated space of brilliant stuff.

Funky family friendly cafe / restau.
Good cakes & craft beers

Excellent small city centre gallery loving the Martin Creed singing lift

I love this art gallery. Rather than just having a variety of different artists with one or two pieces by each, it offers a space for artists to showcase a whole portfolio of work. When I visited, the work on display was mostly by Barry Flanagan. The spacing of the pieces was good, and so was the lighting.

It was easily accessible, as there is a lift that stops at each floor (I recommend using the lift from the bottom floor to the top, even if you dont need to. You will have a fun suprise), foldable stools that you can carry round with you if you find it difficult to stand for too long, and there are large print versions of the artwork guides.

There is a gift shop between the entrance and the gallery, and there are usually books and prints from the artist on display at the time.

Worth a visit, always something interesting to investigate

Great gallery and my kids (2 & 4) made birdhouses in the family area. It was very enjoyable!

Sometimes it's rubbish, sometimes it's a laugh like the time I took my dad and the walls had small white canvases with nothing on them. Other times it is very good. The dust storms were excellent. You never know what you are going to see.

The iKON lives up to its name as an ultramodern conversion to an historical building. Even if you are the ultimate fitness fanatic - ride up and down in the glass lift. Great exhibition and gallery spaces and friendly helpful and informative staff are available throughout. The small shop has some lovely items and is also worth a visit.

Always something breathtaking and worth going for. Don't forget to use their lift even if you are fit enough for the stairs.

Always interesting sometimes even challenging but excellent galleries with well selected exhibitions. Great cafe and bookshop. Impressively housed in an imaginative conversion. A great asset to the Midlands.

Best elevator ever. Just go for that if anything else.

The gallery should support, sponsor and exhibit more local artists. I find most of the exhibitions are pretentious and not visually interesting. I do not understand people who go there to stare at a manhole cover and appreciate that it s an art. For me a good art should be extremely meaningful (logical/conceptual/make you think) and extremely aesthetically engaging (emotional/make you feel).

However, the staffs are very nice. The space itself is good. The bookstore is fantastic.

A lot of modern art is in my opinion basically rubbish but occasionally I come across something (again in my opinion) that I think is brilliant. I like to do a bit myself and find inspiration from some of the work. The fact that it's free makes it a must to visit when I'm in Birmingham. Nicely laid out with a good cafe

Intenational standard exhibitions, the two at the moment are fabulous, gorgeous building, the lift is not to be missed!, great cafe with lovely views accross the square.

Underrated gallery in Birmingham with lovely, helpful staff

Small art gallery than most, but really nice. New exhibitions every few weeks.

Not a very big place but worth a visit. Some weird and wonderful modern art works to see.

Such a lovely contemporary art gallery. Had a great time there and looking forward to see another exhibition xx

Absolutely fantastic. Really interesting stuff and events. Definitely worth a visit and then a revisit. Really made the day for me.

Brilliant gallery with cutting edge exhibitions and small enough to get around in an hour or two.

Love this gallery - it's exhibitions are always inspiring.

The most inspiring art hub in The Midlands. They've given me and my son many thought provoking and enjoyable days, with innovating and exciting exhibitions. We particularly enjoy the summer events outside and the legendary elevator piece by Martin Creed - the best lift in the country.