Thank you so much, Shrew Collective! I have had that ‘Ferry ‘cross the Mersey’ song running through my head since midday, aarggh.
Still its good to have an excuse to go for a ferry ride, the best view of the Liverpool waterfront is, of course, from the other side of the river.
We are greeted by a mini transport museum including this splendid old Wolseley Police Car still with its shiny little bell on the front. Then the large cafe area which houses the exhibition by The Shrew Collective, a group of artists, mainly Wirral-based and former Wirral College students I think who work in every kind of media.
Most of the exhibition is upstairs where the natural lights helps illuminate the work especially Barbara Harrison’s digital prints pasted onto the glass and Barbara Lambs transparencies.
The huge doll dwarfing Mrs J is by Jo Gomez.
There’s some interesting works by Jan Brown and Diane Fraser-Bell. In fact its all quite interesting, could have done with more information about the works but didn’t see any literature.
The artists (apologies for any omissions) :
Jo Swift, Barbara Harrison, Jo Gomez, Barbara Lamb, Fiona Sinclair, Ffion Davies, Sue Sharples, Diane Fraser-Bell, Steve Galloway, Amanda Oliphant, Jan Brown, Jacqui Chapman, Jane Copeman, Tom Grant, Mary Green, and Marie-Loiuse Williams.
Birkenhead ferry terminal is not an ideal place for a Liverpool Biennial exhibition but the artists have responded well to the space and you have to take whatever venue you can find. Also its probably been responsible for dragging a few more people across the river.
After coffee and chips in the cafe we got the next ferry back, it was the long cruise version of the crossing. The narrator reminds us that because of tides, hidden sand-banks etc. the Mersey is a most treacherous river. Thanks for pointing that out on this windy day, shut up and put the music back on… ‘cos this land’s the place I love and here I’ll stay…’
The Shrew Collective at Woodside Ferry Terminal
Birkenhead CH41 6DU (0151 330 1473/1458)
Open 7 days a week, 10 am – 16.30, free. Until November 26 2006