Art exhibition celebrating The Queen’s Jubilee coming to Manchester

An art exhibition celebrating the life and reign of Her Majesty the Queen is coming to Manchester city centre this June.

Displaying at the ABC Gallery on Quay Street, the exhibition will feature a range of unique pieces including photography, embroidery, sculpture, neon art, and more. The exhibition will form part of a wider weekend of activities to launch the ABC Buildings, which are buildings from the 1960s which have been retrofitted to form a creative hub in the centre of Manchester.

’70 The Exhibition’, a group show curated by Monica Colussi to celebrate HM Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, has been commissioned to mark the launch of the ABC Buildings in Enterprise City, and will be hosted within ABC Gallery. ABC Gallery offers a prominent ground floor space within the eponymous 1960s mid-century ABC Buildings, a creative hub in the centre of Manchester.

READ MORE: A festival celebrating art and culture is set to take place in Manchester this summer

ABC Buildings, operated by All Work & Social, is set to officially launch with a weekend full of events and activities. The leading workspace and hospitality operator has chosen art curator, Monica Colussi, to showcase a collection of over 30 unique pieces, incorporating sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, video, neon art, mosaics and textiles from a broad spectrum of artists, paying homage to the celebratory occasion.

It will be the first event of ABC Building’s launch. 70 The Exhibition will open on June 16th 2022, with a private viewing, before opening to the public from June 17th through to July 28th.

The opening weekend will take place from June 17th – June 19th to showcase the ABC Buildings, including its new roof deck and unique glass dome. The terrace space will host food trucks, a vintage flea market, outdoor screenings of a series of classic Manchester films, DJs, live music, a silent 60s disco and a Northern Soul takeover.

The weekend’s events will conclude on 19th June with a wellness and family-friendly scheduled Sunday, which includes roof deck morning yoga, juices and breakfast in the dome, All Queens stand-up comedy in Side Street Studio, 60s classic football match and a kids rave in the dome, hosted by renowned Big Fish Little Fish.

Side Street Studio, located on the corner of Quay Street and Lower Byrom Street, will be ABC Buildings’ signature bar and creative lifestyle space. Monica Colussi has created an exhibition that both salutes HM the Queen while also adding to her legacy and cult.

A collection of existing and commissioned work will be displayed, weaving a narrative through her extraordinary life. It incorporates multiple mediums and provokes conversation, making it an opportunity to celebrate both her private and public persona.

The exhibition reveals the shared artistic language of 26 artists showcasing a vast array of styles. The group show incorporates sculpture, photography, painting and drawing, as well as featuring new works including textile elaborations, video, neon art and mosaics created by artists from a broad spectrum of society.

From internationally acclaimed and well-established artists to emerging talents, each one embraces a unique and distinguished vision of the Queen. With a series of over 30 artworks depicting HM the Queen through the seven decades of her reign, the exhibition offers an intimate portrayal of 70 years of history.

Positioning the Queen as both subject and spectator, the series highlights the artists’ prolific capacity as chroniclers of our times. Amongst the collection of artists is Alison Jackson, who works with look-alike famous people playing on current affairs, and Greg Brennan, whose portrait of the Queen is part of the Royal Photographic Collection.

Other artists include contemporary Italian artist Marco Lodola, among the founders and major exponents of the New Futurism Movement, internationally renowned photographer Terry O’Neill, British photographer Hugo Rittson-Thomas, best known for high-profile photographic portraiture and British contemporary multidisciplinary artist Lauren Baker.

Mancunian artists Paul Houghton and John Humphries, will also have their artwork on display. The group show will unveil over 60% of commissioned works. The exhibition seeks to explore the many facets of a monarch who is the longest-serving monarch in modern times.

More on the ABC Buildings launch weekend schedule:

Private ABC Gallery viewing of 70 The Exhibition: Thursday 16th June

Invite only, enquire with [email protected] to attend

Launch: Friday 17th June

Industry guest speaker in the Dome

Food trucks on the roof deck

DJ and live music on the roof deck

Silent disco in the dome

Launch: Saturday 18th June

Vintage flea market on the roof deck

Food trucks on the roof deck

Northern Soul takeover in Side Street Studio

Launch: Sunday 19th June (wellness, family-orientated schedule)

Roof deck morning yoga

Juices & breakfast in the dome

Family/kids rave in the dome, hosted by Big Fish Little Fish

All Queens stand-up comedy in Side Street Studio

60s classic football matches screened on the roof deck

Find out more about #70TheExhibition on Instagram and via @abcbuildings on Instagram.

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