Visual artist Martin Boyce has been selected to represent Scotland at the 2009 Venice Biennale – the world’s largest and most prestigious international showcase for contemporary visual arts.

This will be the fourth Scottish presentation at Venice by the Scottish Arts Council with partners the National Galleries of Scotland and the British Council in Scotland and will build on the critical success of previous projects which have promoted artists including Turner Prize winner Simon Starling and current Turner Prize nominee Cathy Wilkes.

The presentation is curated by Dundee Contemporary Arts and is the first solo show to be presented.

Martin Boyce’s work relates to and transforms the space around it creating atmospheric, sculptural art inspired by modernist design history. His work has been exhibited across the world and is currently exhibiting at the Sculpture Center in New York. An installation ‘Our love is like the earth, the sun, the trees and the birth’ (2002) is on show at the Gallery of Modern Art in his home town of Glasgow.

Commenting on his appointment Martin Boyce said:

'It is a very exciting situation to be invited to represent Scotland for the Venice Biennale. The Biennale is one of the biggest and most important art events and has an incredible history. I am delighted to be selected and to begin working on a project that will be seen, by masses of people from every part of the world.'

'The Venice Biennale is legendary, my favourite artists in the world have all shown there, and so to be part of that history is a great honour for me. My intention now is to clear the decks and focus on making a great project for the Scottish Pavilion in Venice.'

Full Press release available at the Scottish Arts Council website

The Italian Job, interview with Martin Boyce, The Scotsman

Big and Bold, interview with Martin Boyce, The Herald