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Forever: Art Inspired by Ink Exhibition, 27th March

On Sunday 27th March at 6pm, the first ever Forever: Art Inspired by Ink exhibition opened its doors in the legendary Custard Factory in Birmingham, and it’s guests stepped into a world of captivating artwork and seductive entertainment.

The crowd spilled outside into the courtyard, ensuring that the buzz from the event was felt before we even reached the doors. With work from over 40 artists on display, almost every inch of the walls was covered in masterpieces, and a sizeable chunk of the floor was taken up too! It was fantastic to see newcomers to the tattooing scene, such as Rebecca Protheroe from Mother of All Sins in Birmingham, really holding their own with astounding artwork, alongside renowned artists such as Dawnii Fontana, Jo Harrison and Jason Butcher. Some artists came from further afield, with Aidan Bones (aka the Roadkill Reanimator) coming from Dublin. His reinvented roadkill intrigued and bewitched the crowds throughout the evening.

A lot of the original artwork on display was available to purchase, but there was also a ring of stalls in the centre of the room. Prints were available of some of the artwork on show, and there was some beautiful jewellery to buy. This included a stall from Birmingham School of Jewellery trained Magnus and Bella, from whom you can commission one of their beautiful resin ‘found object’ pieces, to contain things that are personal to you, at no extra cost. I immediately fell in love with dolls on display by Hayley – delicate and twisted beauties. There were artfully iced cupcakes by Alex Cartlidge, to buy for your sugar hit of the evening, as well as tattooed roller girls gliding around the room with baskets of sweets!

Throughout the evening the vibrant buzz in the room was fuelled even further with fantastic entertainment. It was refreshing and wonderful to hear an acoustic set from Birmingham bluegrass group The Toy Hearts. They gave an energetic performance including their song Femme Fatale, the video of which was recorded at Dawnii’s studio The Painted Lady, and is available to watch on their website. Seductive burlesque performances were delivered with style by Felicia Noir, Dutchess La Roux and Miss Von Vamp, and a mesmerising hoop spinning performance from Evelyn Lindsay.

The exhibition attracted the painted population of Birmingham, and was so well received the hosts are already gearing up for the next one. So keep your eyes peeled for information about the next exhibition, which is certain to be as awe inspiring as the first. You can find more information out about ‘Forever’ by joining the event page on Facebook or following @ForeverEvent on twitter.

Article: Carey Armstrong | 2nd & 3rd photos: courtesy of Claire Hearne at Cherry Pop Pictures.