Glasgow’s museums, galleries, streets, bridges and hidden spaces will showcase the work of national and international artists when Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art returns in April 2010, building on the critical and popular success of the Festival in 2008.  

An epic and immersive installation in the enormous interior of Tramway, a soundwork resonating from the banks of the River Clyde, an assortment of surreal objects inserted within the collection of one of Europe’s most important museums, drawings and sculptures from one of contemporary culture’s most influential artists, and bicycles take to the city’s streets for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art’s fourth edition.

Under the artistic direction of Katrina Brown and inspired by the relationships between past, present and future, over 50 artists are presenting sculpture, drawings, film, video, soundworks, performance and music in venues and locations, ranging from the renowned Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) and Tramway to diverse artist-run collectives, small galleries, temporary sites and the hidden and outdoor spaces of the city.

Glasgow-based artists remain at the forefront of the Festival with David Shrigley creating a collection of intriguing sculptures and objects for museum cases at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum; Glasgow-born Susan Philipsz realises her first outdoor sound work on home ground along the banks of the River Clyde, and Douglas Gordon opens the Festival with a new video installation citing his own landmark work 24 Hour Psycho, first shown at Tramway in 1993. Renowned environmental arts organisation NVA re-enact the infamous White Bike Plan, a Dutch anarchist eco-action of the 1960s, by releasing fifty white bikes onto the streets of Glasgow, whilst Kate Davis and Faith Wilding collaborate on an exhibition exploring feminist legacies in contemporary art at CCA.

Watch a clip of Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho

A number of international artists are also at the heart of the programme including a significant selection of important drawings from the ARTISTS ROOMS collection by Joseph Beuys who had strong links to Scotland and whose work provides a powerful context to much of the work showing in the Festival; renowned Swiss artist Christoph Büchel, known for his massive-scale hyperreal experiential works takes on the imposing space at Tramway with a dramatic new commission; David Maljkovic (Croatia) -- one of the most exciting artists to emerge from Europe in recent years -- has his first solo show in the UK -- video and collage works in a specially designed sculptural installation in a new space in the Merchant City; Gerard Byrne, who represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale 2007 presents a major new film work; and internationally acclaimed artist Fiona Tan shows her mesmerising film installation Tomorrow at the Gallery of Modern Art.

Punk artist-designer and radical feminist Linder exhibits her montage images at Sorcha Dallas gallery and presents a unique performance in collaboration with fashion designer Richard Nicoll and musician Stuart McCallum; and other galleries, venues and artists’ collectives such as Transmission Gallery Lowsalt, market Gallery, The Modern Institute, Mary Mary, FINN collective, Glasgow Sculpture Studios and SWG3 create new works in found spaces, existing venues and on the streets of the city. Washington Garcia presents the work of Australian artist David Noonan at the Mitchell Library, while Glasgow Sculpture Studios is working with Jimmie Durham. The Festival’s exhibitions programme is complemented by a lively programme of talks, screenings, seminars, performances and other events.

Taking place in the city every other year, and combining some of the characteristics of a conventional visual arts ‘biennial’, with a more event-based experience, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art has already become a unique event in the cultural calendar with one of the most groundbreaking and dynamic presentations in contemporary visual arts practice. The Festival will also provide an opportunity for both reflection and future-gazing, coinciding as it does with the 20th anniversary of Glasgow’s reign as European Capital of Culture in 1990.

Watch the video clip made at the last Glasgow International, held in 2008.

Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art is funded by Glasgow City Council, Glasgow: Scotland with style, EventScotland, the national events agency, Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art is produced and managed by Culture and Sport Glasgow.

You can sign up for GI updates here

Leave a comment