Visual Arts - British Council

Bob and Roberta Smith - I Believe in Joseph Mallard William Turner (1998). © The Artist.

New Visual Arts website

We have been re-developing our Collection website so that it covers all of the Visual Arts team's work and the new site is now live. Find out about all of our touring exhibitions since the post-war period, see works from our Collection, and watch fantastic multimedia content about some of Britain's finest contemporary artists and works. Recently added content includes films of the Gagarin in Britain exhibition and the Mabey Collection which features over 700 classic art posters from the 20th century.

My Choice: Works Selected by Paula Rego from the British Council Collection

Dame Paula Rego selected over 50 works from the British Council Collection for the exhibition Thresholds which was shown at the Whitechapel Gallery in early 2010. The original exhibition has now been complemented by a further 60 pieces – again selected personally by Paula Rego – to make up the exhibition My Choice, which will be shown in Cascais, Porto and Coimbra in Portugal during 2011. Watch a film about the exhibition opening in Cascais and an interview with Paula Rego discussing some of the works she chose for the tour.

The Visual Arts are amongst the most powerful and influential areas within the arts in Britain today. Covering a vast range of disciplines, from the fine arts through to the very latest in digital art, UK artists are pushing the boundaries of their practice to the limit and looking to the future.

We look to all areas of UK visual arts to showcase the most exciting and best work in Britain. With our network of partners overseas we plan, organise and curate high impact projects for long-term cultural benefits that reach beyond the immediate experience.

Douglas Gordon - 10 MS-¹ (1994). © Douglas Gordon.

Gagarin in Manchester, 12 July 1961 Courtesy Gagarin Family Archive, Moscow

Detail from Mike Nelson - I, IMPOSTOR (2011). Installation, British Pavilion; Venice Biennale 2011. Photo by Cristiano Corte

Douglas Gordon - 10 MS-¹ (1994). © The Artist

Gagarin in Manchester, 1961. Courtesy Gagarin Family Archive, Moscow

Detail from Mike Nelson - I, IMPOSTOR (2011). Photo by Cristiano Corte

Made in Britain

Showcasing innovative and controversial British art from the last thirty years, this exhibition of key works from the British Council Collection will tour to Chengdu, Xi’an, Hong Kong, and Suzhou during 2011/12.

Gagarin in Britain

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the First Manned Space Flight and the installation of the Yuri Gagarin statue on the Mall, the British Council presents Gagarin in Britain, an exhibition on the life of Russian cosmonaut.

I, Impostor

Mike Nelson is the first installation artist to be invited to create a new work in the British Pavilion for the Venice Biennale. Nelson has been working in Venice since the beginning of March and the completed work is now on show until November 2011.

British Council Collection

For more than 60 years the British Council has been collecting works of art to promote the achievements of our artists overseas. Visit the Visual Arts website to find out more about the Collection, see artists' works, exhibition films and information about our touring exhibitions.

British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale