Press

Four avant-garde artists, who work with MDF, antique rulers, huge pyramids, and obscure installations, are to present Scotland at the world’s largest art show.

Cathy Wilkes, Joanne Tatham, Tom O’Sullivan, and Alex Pollard will be showcased at Scotland’s second ever pavilion at the Venice Biennale, it was announced yesterday.

The artists, all based in Glasgow, will fill the pavilion at a former convent, The Ludoteca, with their art, encompassing painting, installation, sculpture and drawings.

Ms Wilkes, perhaps the best known of the team, helped found the Glasgow Women’s Library in 1988, and all of the institute’s artists have exhibited widely across Europe and in New York.

Scotland had its first pavilion independent of the British Pavilion at the 2003 Biennale.

The event, founded in 1895, is held every two years and involves more than 60 countries showcasing the best of their modern art in venues across the Italian city.

This year the British Pavilion, which runs from June to November, will feature Gilbert and George, veterans of the modern art scene.

The Scottish Pavilion, to be called Selective Memory, is to cost about £300,000 and is being supported by the SAC, the National Galleries of Scotland and the British Council.

Graham Berry, director of the SAC, said: ‘We have world class contemporary artists who are recognised internationally and Scotland should be proud of that. To exhibit in Venice is a wonderful opportunity for the artists and also for audiences in Scotland when the work returns in December.’