ARTISTS TALKING

105-111 Westminster Road, Handsworth, Birmingham 1 – 22 February

For one month five three-storey derelict Victorian houses, destined for demolition in the Birmingham suburb of Handsworth, were transformed into a labyrinthine temporary exhibition space. This initiative follows a previous exhibition 'Alchemy' staged in the home of curator Dave Pollard.

Over fifty artists, drawn from the internationally diverse Sozocollective, and many others from the local community and region, had been given the opportunity to display their work in this unique context. Sculpture, installation, video, painting and performance reflected the ethnically diverse nature of the area and the city's population; the subject matter of the work ranged from the whimsical to the profound.

Dark Matter by Pauline Bailey was an ambitious and effective installation. The title – derived from a cosmological term to describe the part of the universe we cannot see or about which little is known – in conjunction with the work itself alluded to the historical experience of the British Afro-Caribbean community. The floorboards and ceiling of two floors were removed exposing the inner structure to create a dimly-lit space that could be viewed from a platform on the first floor above and at ground level. Candles, chains, rope and rope netting arranged in the space alluded to the transatlantic slave trade – a tacit reminder and memorial to an iniquitous aspect of colonial and imperial history.

The exhibition possibly suffered for being too democratic and inclusive, yet this was counterbalanced by the quality and range of work on show. For more information about Sozocollective
W: www.sozocollective.org.uk

Krystyn Finn

KRYSTYN FINN
is an artist and writer.

First published: a-n Magazine April 2002