Mike Nelson to make history at the British Pavilion for 2011 Venice Biennale
25 February 2011
Mike Nelson is the first installation artist to be invited by the British Council to conceive and create a new work in the British Pavilion for the 54th Venice Biennale.
Nelson will be working in Venice for a period of three months, and the completed work will be launched during the official Biennale press days on 1st , 2nd and 3rd June, and open to the public for the duration of the exhibition from 4th June – 27th November 2011.
“The attention to detail, historical accuracy and physical nature of Mike Nelson’s sculptural practice guarantee that his new installation for the British Pavilion will be one of the most challenging solo presentations ever mounted in over 70 years of exhibitions organised by the British Council in Venice.” - Richard Riley, Curator of the British Pavilion, 2011
As the UK’s leading cultural relations organisation, the British Council has been responsible for the presentation of the exhibition at the British Pavilion for the Venice Biennale of Art since 1938. During this period, the pavilion has hosted exhibitions by many of the most significant artists of the day, providing successive generations with one of the most important platforms for the showcasing of contemporary art to an international audience.
Born in Loughborough in 1967, Mike Nelson has already received considerable international acclaim for his meticulous installations and his work has been presented in major group and solo exhibitions throughout the world. These include: The Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2001); 49th Venice Biennale (2001); 13th Sydney Biennale (2002); CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco (2002); 8th International Istanbul Biennale (2003); Modern Art Oxford (2004); 26th São Paulo Biennale (2004); Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2008); Creative Time, New York (2008); Tate Triennial (2009); and 3rd Singapore Biennale (2011).
A recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Award in 2001, Nelson has twice been short-listed for the Turner Prize. One of his large-scale installations, The Coral Reef, originally conceived for Matt’s Gallery, London in 2000, was acquired by Tate in 2008 and is currently on show as part of the Collection Displays at Tate Britain, London.
Mike Nelson lives and works in London. He is represented in the UK by Matt’s Gallery, London, and internationally by Galleria Franco Noero, Turin, and 303 Gallery, New York.
The UK’s presentation at the Venice Biennale is selected by a panel of arts experts drawn from across the UK. The members of this panel change for every edition of the biennale. For the 2011 Venice Biennale, the selection committee consisted of the following:
- Rachel Campbell-Johnson, Art Critic, The Times
- Christoph Grunenberg, Director Tate Liverpool
- Nav Haq, Curator, Arnolfini, Bristol
- Keith Hartley, Senior Curator, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
- Hugh Mulholland, Director, The Third Space Gallery, Belfast
- Karen McKinnon, Curator, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
- Richard Riley, Head of Exhibitions, Visual Arts, British Council
- Ralph Rugoff, Director, Hayward Gallery, London
- Godfrey Worsdale, Director, BALTIC, Gateshead
- Chair: Andrea Rose, Director of Visual Arts, British Council
Media Contacts
For more information, please contact Claire Walsh, Michelangelo Bendandi, Damian Chandler on 020 7389 4981 or email britishcouncil@brunswickgroup.com
Mike Nelson is represented in the UK by Matt’s Gallery, London. For enquiries, please contact info@mattsgallery.org or phone 020 8983 1771. For further information about the gallery, please visit www.mattsgallery.org. He is represented internationally by Galleria Franco Noero, Turin (www.franconoero.com) and 303 Gallery, New York (www.303gallery.com)
For more details on the British Council, please contact Mike Findlay, Senior Press Officer, on 0207 389 4981 or mike.findlay@britishcouncil.org.
The British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is online at http://venicebiennale.britishcouncil.org/
Follow the British Pavilion at http://twitter.com/BCVisualArts
Notes to Editors
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. We work in the arts, education, English, science, sport and governance and last year we engaged face to face with 13.2 million people and reached 221 million. We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government. Our total turnover in 2008/9 was £645 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £209 million. For every £1 of government grant we receive, we earn £2.21 from other sources. www.britishcouncil.org
The British Council works with an advisory committee of leading arts professionals across the UK which advises on the artist selection for the Venice Biennale every two years. This is to ensure that the selection process is transparent and broadly based. The advisory committee met on 10 and 25 March 2010. For further information please visit www.britishcouncil.org/venicebiennale
In the second half of the 20th century, selected artists for the British Pavilion included such notable figures as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Anthony Caro, Bridget Riley, Richard Long, Howard Hodgkin, Frank Auerbach, Richard Hamilton, Leon Kossoff and Rachel Whiteread. The standard of excellence has continued into the new century, and in the last decade the selected artists have been Mark Wallinger (2001), Chris Ofili (2003), Gilbert & George (2005), Tracey Emin (2007), and Steve McQueen (2009).
