Aberdeen Art Gallery hosts homecoming Venice Biennale exhibition

A homecoming exhibition featuring the work of six of Scotland’s most exciting and innovative artists, selected to represent the country at this year’s 52nd Venice Biennale, will be unveiled to the public on Saturday (1 December) at Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Hosted by the Scottish Arts Council, National Galleries of Scotland and British Council, and curated by Philip Long, Scotland and Venice 2007 features the work of Charles Avery, Henry Coombes, Louise Hopkins, Rosalind Nashashibi, Lucy Skaer and Tony Swain.

The exhibition which runs until 27 January provides Scottish audiences with the opportunity to experience the critically acclaimed presentation, and is the result of a partnership between Scotland and Venice 2007 and Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, supported by the Aberdeen City Council-City Growth Fund.

Recognised as the world’s largest and most prestigious international showcase for contemporary visual art, the Venice Biennale of Art takes place every two years. More than 65 countries participate in the five-month event, with each country hosting an exhibition or pavilion dedicated solely to the work of its chosen artists.

Scotland and Venice 2007 complemented further presentations from the UK taking place across the city at the same time.  The British Pavilion featured a solo show of work by Tracey Emin; Northern Ireland’s presentation featured the work of Willie Doherty in a show curated by Hugh Mulholland and the work of Richard Deacon, Merlin James and Heather & Ivan Morison appeared in Wales’ presentation, curated by Hannah Firth.

Scotland and Venice 2007 continues to build on a distinguished history of Scottish participation at the Biennale.  Scottish artists have exhibited work in Venice since 1897 (the 2nd Biennale), when works by the Glasgow Boys and others were shown.

Since then artists such as Eduardo Paolozzi and, more recently, Mark Boyle, Christine Borland, Douglas Gordon and Roderick Buchanan have also participated in exhibitions.

In 1990, to celebrate Glasgow's position as European City of Culture, the Scottish Sculpture Trust was invited to exhibit and Clare Henry and Angela Wrapson curated a show featuring the work of David Mach, Arthur Watson and Kate Whiteford.

The Zenomap exhibition of 2003; the Selective Memory exhibition of 2005 and this year’s Scotland and Venice 2007 exhibition are the result of a strategic partnership of organisations with national and international remits, which aim to continue the legacy of Scottish artists who have gone before and who have paved the way for artists of today.

Zenomap featured the work of Claire Barclay, Jim Lambie and Simon Starling, curated by Francis McKee and Kay Pallister as well as other artists associated with Scotland. Selective Memory, featuring work by Alex Pollard, partnership Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan, and Cathy Wilkes was curated by Jason Bowman and Joanne Bradley. Subsequent to their work having been shown at the Biennale each of the artists has achieved considerable success; being invited to show their work nationally and internationally.  Notably, Simon Starling won the 2005 Turner Prize, the same year in which Jim Lambie was nominated as one of the three finalists.

Aberdeen Art Gallery is well known for the emphasis that has always been placed on collecting and exhibiting contemporary work. Recent acquisitions have included work by Jim Lambie, Kenny Hunter, Gavin Turk, Damien Hirst, Julian Opie, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Martin Parr. Meanwhile, the Gallery’s exhibition programme has most recently featured a major show of new work by Dalziel + Scullion along with new work, Knockturne, by David Blyth; an intervention by Ross Sinclair; La Vie Nouvelle: Lise Sarfati in partnership with Magnum Photos and David Beckham by Sam Taylor Wood in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery.

Commenting on Scotland and Venice 2007, Curator, Philip Long said: ‘Art from Scotland is at one of its most progressive moments and our chosen artists represent this position in the form of six highly individual talents. As with the heterogeneous character of the Biennale, the work of Charles Avery, Henry Coombes, Louise Hopkins, Rosalind Nashashibi, Lucy Skaer and Tony Swain is diverse, exciting and unpredictable.

‘Each artist, however, seems to us to share as part of their concern an interest in cultural similarities and differences, and the issues such differences present. Some on occasion use invented worlds to investigate their concerns; others make use of comparisons, real situations or look back into history. What is clear is that each artist works with such ability and often with such surprising and new means that they have the power to alter perceptions.’

He continued: ‘Scotland’s internationally recognised art schools, a highly supportive network of fellow artists, and a range of galleries and funding opportunities form part of the reason why artists of such ability maintain their connection with this country. We hope that the invitation to exhibit in Venice encourages the selected and other artists to think of Scotland as a place which can provide an expanding range of opportunities, not only at home but also abroad. The Venice Biennale provides global exposure and we feel each of the selected artists are at a particular point in their career when such an opportunity will bring the wider attention they deserve, as has been the case for artists involved in Scotland’s previous presentations.’

Charles Avery
Working across a range of media, Avery’s art is characterised by formal beauty, humour and a spirit of philosophical enquiry. Avery’s most high profile work to date is his ongoing Islanders project, in which over a ten-year period he has described in drawing, painting and sculpture the topology and cosmology of an imaginary island, inspired by his childhood living in the Inner Hebrides. Avery was born in 1973 in Oban. Based in London, he is represented by doggerfisher/Susanna Beaumont, Edinburgh; Galleria Sonia Rosso, Turin and Galeria S.A.L.E.S, Rome.

Henry Coombes
Henry Coombes' work investigates the entrenched political, cultural and class connotations of the traditional media in which he works. Film, oil paint and watercolour are used to seduce the viewer into familiar images, which on inspection reveal a subversive subtext. Coombes was born in London in 1977 and completed his BA at Glasgow School of Art in 2002. He is based in Glasgow and represented by Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow.

Louise Hopkins
Using a variety of materials such as furnishing fabric, newspapers, song sheets, maps and comic strips as the basis for her works, Louise Hopkins’ art can at first appear playful and sensuous. Her primary intention, however, is not one of embellishment, but of disruption. Her use of paint to alter the meaning of the original material on which she works is disorientating and at times disturbing. Hopkins was born in Hertfordshire in 1965. She studied at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic and Glasgow School of Art, where she completed her MFA in 1994. She is based in Glasgow and is represented by doggerfisher/Susanna Beaumont, Edinburgh and Andrew Mummery, London.

Rosalind Nashashibi
Observation of group interaction and social rituals are the starting points for Rosalind Nashashibi, who uses primarily 16mm film. She is concerned with portraying the psychological atmosphere of locations and detecting subconscious projections. To do this she films scenes from reality, often filtered through the visual language of primitivism. Born in Croydon in 1973, Nashashibi studied at Sheffield University and Glasgow School of Art, where she completed her MFA in 2000. She is based in London and is represented by doggerfisher/Susanna Beaumont, Edinburgh and Harris Liebermann, New York.

Lucy Skaer
Lucy Skaer works conceptually and in three and two dimensions. In the latter she commonly utilises imagery which she finds in photojournalistic reportage. Working on paper – large stretches that in scale resemble unfurled banners, flags or giant scrolls – she draws in graphite, adding enamel paint, ink and gold leaf, producing images which appear fluid and shifting, and open to interpretation. Skaer also creates public interventions and is a founding member of the artists’ collaborative group, Henry VIII’s Wives. Born in Cambridge in 1975 Skaer studied at Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 1997. She is based in Glasgow, and has recently spent extended time in Berlin, Amsterdam and New York.  Skaer is represented by doggerfisher/Susanna Beaumont, Edinburgh.

Tony Swain
A sheet or cut section of newsprint provides the basis for Swain’s meticulously executed paintings, which offer us a view into a complex and surreal private world. Using the disconnected images found across such a spread, Swain works over this, embellishing imagery, distorting and extending perspectives and introducing new figurative and abstract imagery to produce works which are mesmeric and intriguing. Swain was born in Lisburn in Northern Ireland in 1967 and studied at Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 1990. He is based in Glasgow and is represented by The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow.

Jim Tough, Acting Chief Executive, Scottish Arts Council said:
‘Scottish Arts Council, British Council Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland are delighted that the critically acclaimed exhibition, Scotland and Venice 2007, will be showing at Aberdeen Art Gallery over the winter months. 

‘As one of the most prestigious international showcases for the visual arts, Scotland’s presentation at the Venice Biennale demonstrated the vibrancy of Scottish contemporary art on the world stage.

‘With the support of Aberdeen City Council and staff at Aberdeen Art Gallery, the homecoming exhibition creates an opportunity for people across Scotland and the UK to experience at first hand, the work of these six highly skilled and imaginative artists.’

John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: ‘Scotland and Venice 2007 was a great success at the Biennale, bringing some of our most talented artists into the world’s most competitive and demanding arena for international contemporary art.   Now we are delighted to be bringing this superb show back home so that our own public can experience the vitality and resonance of this important presentation of Scottish art.’

Roy Cross, Director, British Council Scotland said: ‘British Council Scotland is proud to continue its involvement with the six artists selected for the Venice Biennale. The critical response given to the artists further highlights Scotland’s role as an international hub of diverse creativity and innovation.’

Christine Rew, Art Gallery and Museums Manager, Aberdeen Art Gallery said: ‘We are delighted to be working in partnership with Scotland and Venice 2007 to present this magnificent exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery.

‘We have a long-established tradition, dating back to the foundation of the Art Gallery in 1885, of collecting and exhibiting the best of contemporary art, which this inspiring installation of the work by six of Scotland’s most exciting artists continues.

‘By bringing the exhibition to Aberdeen those who live and work in the North East as well as further afield, will have a fantastic opportunity to see first hand the special, ground-breaking, quality of art created in Scotland today, which has earned the country an international reputation for progressive innovation.’

Culture Minister, Linda Fabiani said: ‘This year’s Venice Biennale was a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate Scotland’s cultural excellence to the world.  I am glad to see these six wonderful artists now exhibiting in Aberdeen and I am sure that Scotland and Venice 2007 will attract many visitors.’

Notes to editors

1. Scotland and Venice 2007 will take place at Aberdeen Art Gallery from Saturday 1 December 2007 – Sunday 27 January 2008.
2. Scotland and Venice 2007 is a collaboration between the Scottish Arts Council, National Galleries of Scotland and British Council Scotland. The exhibition in Aberdeen is the result of a partnership between Scotland and Venice 2007 and Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums. This exhibition is supported by the Aberdeen City Council-City Growth Fund.
3. Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums curates and develops the rich cultural heritage of Aberdeen City Council’s outstanding collections of artefacts and art. It operates four of North East Scotland’s premier visitor attractions – Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Provost Skene’s House, The Tolbooth and the magnificent Art Gallery – and strives to deliver programmes of exhibitions, events and lifelong learning that challenge, inspire and enlighten. www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council