ALT+ SPACE
AMASS ARTIST COLLECTIVE
LTB Showrooms
Coventry
October 29th-November 24th
Amass Artist Collective is a contemporary art group made up of MA art and design, and fine art graduates from Birmingham School of Art, who met during and shortly after the pandemic. The diverse mediums and subjects reflect the socio-economical and cultural diversity of the artists.
The collective’s previous shows, Aftermath part 1, part 2, and Absence were presented in gallery spaces within the West Midlands in the form of mixed media, digital works, paintings, sculptures, and events in the opening, and closing of the shows. The collective seeks to generate artworks in unused urban spaces – spaces which are usually overlooked by the public. As an unfunded group, Amass Artist Collective’s ambition is to encourage a continuation of a creative art ecology in the West Midlands, especially with the gentrification that’s happening around the area, driving the prices of studio spaces and gallery rents up.
The exhibition, Alt+space is an expression of the gallery’s function as an alternative space for artists to show work; and embodies the habitus of the collective’s artistic developments during the pandemic when the Birmingham School of Art, like other educational institutions globally, used digital means of connecting the cohorts to mitigate the disruption. The Litten Tree Building is steeped with a rich history, originally built as a showroom for The Rover Company in 1910, which was then readapted as a food office for collecting ration stamps and council HQ during wartime. The exhibition is an interesting opportunity for Amass Artist Collective to work with the staff at LTB, which is run by volunteers. A strong sense of community spirit is an important value of the collective, which inspires several members of Amass Artist Collective to run workshops and artist talks that engages with the local community throughout the duration of the exhibition.
The shared experiences of the post-Elizabeth II, post-Brexit, post-pandemic, post-structural era, makes it an interesting time to generate ideas and witness works in the wider socio-political culture, as it’s an unpredictable generation to flourish alongside the media, internet and artificial intelligence. The less than perfect white walled space of the show is a symptom for the aging early 20th century ideas that might seem incongruous with collective ideals of the 21st century, whichever these might become over the course of this century.
© Jasmine Lee, Amass Artist Collective
Essential Information
ALT+ SPACE
AMASS ARTIST COLLECTIVE
LTB Showrooms
Coventry
October 29th-November 24th
Private view featuring DJ Ian and live music from Me & Thee on October 29th at 7pm