AMA VENEZIA Collection exhibition

AMA VENEZIA proudly announces the official opening of a new contemporary art space in Venice, on April 9, 2025. Founded by Laurent Asscher, AMA VENEZIA is dedicated to promoting contemporary art through a rich collection and unique commissions, aiming to create a dynamic platform for artistic exchange and innovation. 

The vision behind AMA VENEZIA is to offer a space where exceptional works of art can be shared with a wide audience. Laurent Asscher, who began collecting art in 2012, believes in the importance of supporting living artists and fostering dialogue around contemporary art. The venue will serve not only as a showcase for the AMA Collection centered on contemporary art from the 1960s to the present, particularly highlighting American artists, but will also function as a catalyst for creativity, inspiration, and experimentation. AMA will provide artists with the opportunity to push boundaries and create extraordinary works. 

Venice, with its rich cultural heritage and vibrant artistic scene, was a natural choice. As Laurent Asscher explains, "Venice is becoming a hub for art and cultural foundations of all kinds. It provides the ideal environment for AMA VENEZIA to thrive and contribute to the city’s artistic landscape." Located in the heart of Venice, near the Scuola Grande della Misericordia in Cannaregio, AMA VENEZIA offers more than 10,000 sq. ft. (1.000  sq. m.) of exhibition space. The current layout of the building—which can already be found in the famous plan of Serenissima by Jacopo de Barbari 1500—shows a complex, which probably served as a factory as evidenced by the many furnaces excavated, and later became the soap factory of Venice. Laurent Asscher entrusted the project to TA Torsello Architettura, specialized in the field of restoration of architectural and cultural heritage, to oversee, in a harmonious dialogue with the past, an extraordinary reclamation of the previously disused space. 

The inaugural exhibition features works by Avery Singer, Brice Marden, David Hammons, Elizabeth Peyton, Florian Krewer, Jacqueline Humphries, Jeff Koons, Jordan Wolfson, Lauren Halsey, Mohammed Sami, Refik Anadol, Rudolf Stingel, Salman Toor, and Wade Guyton.  

For AMA VENEZIA, success is measured not by visitor numbers but by the quality of the experience offered. "Success will be reflected in the smiles of our visitors, the enjoyment of artists, and the recognition of AMA as a space for extraordinary art," says Laurent Asscher.