Birmingham's Public Art

Jonathan Berg came to Birmingham to study for a PhD at the University of Birmingham in 1978. Following this he worked at Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich and then City Hospital in Birmingham. For the final part of his career he was the Pathology Director and Honorary Professor of Clinical Biochemistry.Jonathan started his photo library of the city in 1990 and together with Barbara provided professional quality images to help promote the city through the 1990s. Alongside this he published books of the modern city in photos and text. Positively Birmingham was first published in 1994 and was launched at a civic reception at the Council House. It has now sold over 30,000 copies in five editions. Jonathan had gone to London publishers with the idea of a coffee-table book of Birmingham but been rebuffed – so he just got on and published it himself.Discovering Birmingham is a smaller photo book introducing the city and is used as a guide by tourists. It is currently in its fifth edition. Invention & Design; Elkington of Birmingham looks at the invention of electroplating in the Jewellery Quarter. This beautifully produced book is took two years to produce and Jonathan describes it as; “The least best-selling of my best-selling books”.As he approached retirement from the NHS Jonathan started Positively Birmingham Walking tours with both bookable public tours and private tours of the city. The new book Birmingham’s Public Art has been idea a long time in the making and the actual production has taken several years.

This is an outstanding compendium of images and narrative which illustrates the wealth and diversity of 'free to all' public art in this historic and constantly evolving city. Whatever one's familiarity with this hub of the Midlands, Jonathan Berg's fine book will serve as a companion to much artistic treasure in the city centre and its suburbs. It is a book to be proud of and its contents are alluring in many ways: for those murals, statues and sculptures which thousands of people file past every day, it serves as well written explanation of the background to these creations; for those pieces of work which are less familiar it serves as an enticement to seek them out. Beautifully produced, it will admirably grace any coffee table or bookshelf and command revisiting time and time again for there is much to discover and rediscover within its pages. The photography admirably captures the heart of the city and the narrative is a tribute to its people past and present. A Dudley, Nov 2023.