New Contemporaries, the UK’s leading promoter and supporter of the most talented artists emerging from art colleges, has teamed up for the first time with Brixton’s Block 336 gallery.
New Contemporaries has selected 47 artists for a touring exhibition sponsored by Bloomberg. It will be accompanied by events and activity in Brixton.
The exhibition launches at the Baltic gallery in Gateshead this autumn before touring to Block 336 at 336 Brixton Road from 27 January to 3 March next year.
The artist-run project space and studio provider offers artists the freedom to experiment and test new ideas.
Two Brixton-based artists, Declan Colquitt and Amanda Moström, are among those selected.
Colquitt studied at the Royal College of Art, London, Manchester Metropolitan University and Camberwell College of Arts.
He says his work has developed from videos that were a composite of text, sound and the moving or still image. It now uses written and spoken words “and engages with a language of socio-political efficacy through psycho-geographic (mis)representation, recollection and hallucination”.
His content is usually informed by mental health, medication, addiction and an adulation of music.
The text is dreamlike and exists in “an urgent absurd realism”. The written practice is supported by sound works that rely on analogue processes and homemade instruments”.
Moström studied at City and Guilds of London Art School.
“I aim to create living and playful works that engage the public, using a visual language of domestic objects, play and the profane,” she says.
“I want to overcome the reluctance of people to physically interact with an object just because of preconceived notions of reverence towards artworks in the gallery space/setting.
“I want to encourage a sense of experimentation and play in the space, so that relationships with individual works are built on interactions and physical touch.
“I hope that this active participation with the work allows a more profound experience; involving play, touch and communal participation.”
New Contemporaries has provided a platform for new and recent fine art graduates since 1949, mainly through its annual open submission and nationally touring exhibition.
This high-profile platform is recognised as a gauge of work emerging from UK colleges.
New Contemporaries also provides artists with professional development opportunities – mentoring, studio bursaries, residencies, commissioning, digital content production and programming opportunities with their partners.
More than half of all Turner Prize winners and nominees have a connection to New Contemporaries.
A Block 336 spokesperson said: “We are committed to widening participation from individuals and groups who may not typically access contemporary art.
“The organisation aims to advance education in the arts with a particular emphasis on persons with disabilities.
“To complement the exhibition at Block 336, we will be celebrating Brixton’s vibrant and creative community, working with relevant local partners to establish collaborative events, activity and promotion.”
