The practice of artists working outside the gallery is long established. Some have chosen public spaces as a context for creation, an alternative to the gallery system, seizing the initiative both by seeking new locations for their work and developing work in response to specific sites. Others have sought to develop an alternative to studio-based practice, working in response to the creative needs of a particular group of people.

This new publication focuses on Ikon-initiated projects that took place outside the gallery, while its new lottery-funded building was being prepared.

It features four projects, each of which present very different ways of working: The Honeymoon Project by Miralda; England’s Glory at Witley Court; Grennan & Sperandio’s comic REVENGE; and a collaboration between artist Yinka Shonibare MBE and the residents in Aston, Birmingham, England.

These chapters are framed within the critical context of Anna Harding’s overview of artists working outside the gallery, Helen Denniston’s report on the conference Process and participation: art, artist and audience, and a conversation between Jubilee Arts and Ikon.