SUMMER cocktails and cutting edge surreal art. All roads surely lead to Northern Quarter bar PLY to catch up with the buzzing Medicine is Magical show from sØlar – which launches on Thursday, June 27 – while sipping on a Vitamin Bee, a blend of 3 Rivers Gin, prosecco, bergamot, honey, lemon and pollen (£8, pictured below).
Maybe take in a Pantone 311 (rum, blue, orange, mango, lime, fizz) for the same price)? Or a Tiki Ain’t dead (It’s Just Been Sleepin’) blend of rum, pineapple butter, cherry, salt, porter treacle and fudge (£9). And most playful of the bunch – Sweetshop, bringing vodka, passionfruit, lemon, violet, bubblegum, foam and sherbet (£8) to an already banging party (well that's what the press release promises). You get the sun-kissed drift. Full new cocktail menu here.
Which brings us to the equally colourful Medicine is Magical exhibition. Fresh from a successful stint at Electrik in Chorlton, for the next month sØlar will be showcasing his non-digital collage skills. He uses just a pair of scissors, a scalpel and personally sourced images from thrift shops, secondhand book stores and the odd unsuspecting waiting room.
Over the last 12 months Manchester-based sØlar has worked with international music producers and labels creating record sleeves for DJ Craze, Mark De Clive-Lowe, Fixate, Flevans, Lady Alma, Skint Records and Tru Thoughts. He was also featured in The London Evening Standard as its number one Instagram art feed to follow (@surreal_collage_by_solar).
PLY, 26 Lever Street, Manchester M1 1DW. 0161 711 0401.
