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Gormley sculpture acquired by Manchester Art Gallery, B of the Bang to be dismantled and new hotel opens in Gay Village.
Gallery acquires Antony Gormley sculpture
Manchester Art Gallery has added a sculpture by leading UK contemporary artist Antony Gormley to its extensive collection of artworks.
Filter (2002), a suspended, life-size male figure made of cut steel rings welded together, was bought with an £80,000 grant from independent art charity The Art Fund and further support from local benefactors. It is now hanging by cable over a staircase in the gallery's glass extension.
This is the first time that Filter is being shown in a public gallery in the UK, and Manchester Art Gallery's acquisition of this work makes it one of just five regional galleries in the UK to have an Antony Gormley sculpture on permanent display.
Gormley is best known for his public sculpture The Angel of the North in Gateshead and his installation Another Place at Crosby Beach, Merseyside.
B of the bye-bye
It was built as a symbol of regeneration for East Manchester, but after a raft of technical problems, Thomas Heatherwick's B of the Bang sculpture at Sportcity is being dismantled.
The £1.42 million sculpture (main picture) was commissioned by urban regeneration company New East Manchester to mark the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. When it was first unveiled by Olympic gold medallist Linford Christie in January 2005, the 56-metre steel starburst was the UK's tallest sculpture. As tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but leaning ten times as much, it was considered a remarkable feat of British engineering.
It was also a wonderful piece of public art - a metallic explosion made of 180 steel spikes, including five supporting legs, inclined at an angle of 30 degrees from the vertical and symbolising the speed and energy of an athlete launching out of the blocks.
However, technical glitches plagued the sculpture right from the start. Within two weeks of the launch, one part of the structure became detached and had to be repaired. The problems kept coming and to date a total of 22 spikes and 15 spike tips have had to be removed.
The sculpture will now be dismantled and parts of it stored for possible use in a future structure in Sportcity.
Monastery granted licence to wed
East Manchester's stunning Gorton Monastery has entered yet another chapter in its 145-year history as a venue for civil marriages.
Built in 1863, the Grade II listed monastery (also known as the Church of St Francis) was hailed as an architectural masterpiece. It was abandoned by its Franciscan monks in 1989 and suffered years of vandalism and neglect before a £6 million restoration project transformed it into one of Manchester's premier conference and events venues.
When the monastery reopened in 2007, it received enquiries from couples wishing to tie the knot there but had to turn them away, having been denied a civil marriage licence due to its past as a building for religious activities.
Last month, after having hosted scores of major conferences, banquets and concerts, the monastery was finally recognised as an events venue and granted a licence for civil weddings.
HK Gruber to join BBC Philharmonic
Renowned Viennese composer and conductor HK Gruber is to succeed James MacMillan at the BBC Philharmonic from this September.
Born in 1943, the award-winning HK Gruber is the composer of the celebrated work Frankenstein!! which was premiered in Liverpool in 1978 and then went on to receive hundreds of acclaimed performances worldwide.
His new appointment will bring him to Manchester, where he will conduct the BBC Philharmonic in two concert dates per season in its Bridgewater Hall series, as well as recording his own music for Chandos Records.
Gruber will also be involved in the BBC Philharmonic's learning work in Salford, which will be the orchestra's new home from 2011.
Velvet dreams are made of this
A £5.5 million boutique hotel has just opened in Manchester's Gay Village, defying the deepening recession.
The 4-star Velvet Hotel occupies four floors above the iconic Velvet Bar & Restaurant on Canal Street, in the heart of one of the most fabulous gay districts in Britain.
Designed to offer "a contemporary feel with an edgy twist", the hotel comprises 19 individually designed and deliciously decadent boudoirs, featuring flamboyant pieces of Rococo furniture and artwork.
Velvet joins an elite group of boutique hotels in the city, including Great John Street Hotel and the Yang Sing Oriental.
