Yesterday, I had a lovely coffee with the Director of Open Eye, to talk about their fantastic new space opposite the Liver Building at Mann Island in Liverpool.
The gallery has been shut for around 6 months, as it moves from its old home in Wood Street. I’ll miss the Wood Street location, being in the heart of the art end of town, but the new location gives the gallery a prominent space in the Liverpool docklands area, appealing to visitors and adding stunning views from outside the gallery to the wonderful images on show inside.
Open Eye Gallery reopens to the public 5th November 2011, with exhibitions by Mitch Epstein (American Power), and Chris Steele-Perkins (The Pleasure Principle).
The Gallery also boasts a seriously funky exterior wall that will be the site for regular vinyl exhibitions by artists. The first one is Good Sailing, by S Mark Gubb and promises to be very striking and fresh, while drawing heavily on the traidional history of Liverpool’s docks.
From Patrick Henry, Director of Open Eye: “it’s been a lot of work but we’re really excited about the new space and what it will offer. We’re right at the heart of Liverpool’s Waterfront, a stone’s throw from Tate and the recently-opened Museum of Liverpool. The new Open Eye is twice as big as our former premises and for the first time we’ll have a dedicated gallery for changing exhibitions from the Open Eye archives. There’s also a great little shop, and a programme of artist talks, masterclasses and other events…”
Their new site has also just gone live, here – http://www.openeye.org.uk/
st84photo 
#1 by Ian Brumpton (@IanBrumpton) on October 13, 2011 - 5:40 pm
Great spot for it – Gallery should do well in the new location, Good Luck!