Charlotte Prodger's new film for Scotland + Venice to tour across Scotland

Published: 30 Apr 2019

Today, Tuesday 30 May 2019, the Scotland + Venice partnership has confirmed the Scottish tour dates for Charlotte Prodger’s major new single channel video work which will be presented as part of the Collateral Events of the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

In a first for the Scotland + Venice partners this newly commissioned work will be touring Scotland at the same time as it is being presented to audiences in Venice.

The UK premiere will screen at The Tower Digital Arts Centre in Helensburgh, Argyll & Bute on Thursday 27 June 2019. The film will then tour six cinemas and art centres across Scotland’s west coast, highlands and islands ending in Aberdeen at Belmont Filmhouse on Thursday 21 November.

Commissioned by Scotland + Venice, this new work builds upon Prodger’s sustained exploration of subjectivity, self-determination, and queerness. It is the last in a trilogy of videos that began with Stoneymollan Trail (2015) followed by BRIDGIT (2016) for which she was awarded the 2018 Turner Prize. The work has been curated by Linsey Young in partnership with Alexia Holt of Cove Park, Scotland’s international artists’ residency centre, where the work was developed. Through her work Prodger explores the experience of wilderness, the presence and effect of the natural world on memory and emotion and reflects upon ways in which queer bodies might understand and be understood in this space.

Amanda Catto, Chair of the Scotland + Venice partnership, and Head of Visual Arts at Creative Scotland commented: “Scotland + Venice is delighted to be presenting Prodger’s new film to communities across Scotland, with additional funding support from Screen Scotland, Art Fund and Outset Scotland. People who come to the tour will be able to enjoy the film at the same time that it is being premiered in Venice, creating a significant opportunity to reach out to new audiences here.

"This initiative also brings Charlotte’s work closer to the rural locations and landscapes that have informed her thinking and practice, making this a unique series of screenings and a very special experience for those who attend.”

On behalf of the project’s curatorial team, Alexia Holt, Associate Director of Cove Park, commented: “Cove Park is based in Argyll and Bute and we are delighted to have this opportunity to present Prodger’s work in our own region. The tour will travel to rural venues in areas that have a particular meaning and resonance for the artist; the screening in Aberdeen will link the programme to the region in which Charlotte grew up and the event in Glasgow will connect the tour to the city in which she now lives and works.

"The tour will also involve young artists and curators involved in the Professional Development Programme, providing an opportunity for these individuals to present Prodger’s work in their own home regions.  We look forward to working with all the cinemas and venues taking part in the tour over the next seven months.”

Dates of the full Scottish tour:

• Thursday 27 June: The Tower Digital Arts Centre, Helensburgh, Argyll & Bute
• Wednesday 3 July: Glasgow Film Theatre
• Thursday 25 July: Campbeltown Picture House, Argyll & Bute
• Thursday 22 August: Aros Community Cultural Centre, Skye
• Friday 27 September: An Lanntair, Isle of Lewis
• Thursday 24 October: Mareel – Shetland Arts Centre, Shetland
• Thursday 21 November: Belmont Filmhouse, Aberdeen

The UK premiere on Thursday 27 June at The Tower Digital Arts Centre will coincide with the launch of a limited edition print by Prodger. Each screening will include a short trailer documenting the project development made by Connolly Clark Film and will be followed by a talk with the curators and participants involved in the Professional Development Programme.

The Dutch arts organisation, If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part of Your Revolution, who are supporting the production of Prodger’s video work, will lead on a subsequent international tour to the Stedelijk MuseumAmsterdam and Mercer Union Toronto in early 2020.

Media Contact: Caterina Berardi, Pickles PR | E: caterina@picklespr.com | T: +44 (0) 7907487074

Notes to Editors

1. Charlotte Prodger has been commissioned by Scotland + Venice, to present a major new single-channel video installation at the Biennale Arte 2019. The exhibition is curated by Linsey Young with Cove Park, and supported by the artist’s production consultant, Mason Leaver-Yap, and Dutch arts organisation, If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution (IICD).

   Venue: Arsenale Docks, S. Pietro di Castello, 40, 30122

   Opening times: 11 May – 24 November 2019, Tuesday – Sunday, 10:00 – 18:00 (free entry)

   Preview: Thursday, 9 May, 14:00-17:30

   Vaporetto stops: Giardini, Arsenale or S. Pietro di Castello

2. Formed in 2003 as a partnership between Creative Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland and British Council Scotland, Scotland + Venice is funded by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland. Scotland + Venice commissions ambitious new work to be staged within the highly visible context of the Biennale in order to promote the strength and diversity of artists’ practice in Scotland. The Scottish tour is supported by Screen Scotland, Art Fund and Outset Scotland. For further information and to sign up for updates, please visit: scotlandandvenice.com / @scotlandvenice / #scotlandvenice / www.facebook.com/scotlandandvenice
3. Charlotte Prodger was born in Bournemouth, UK in 1974. She studied at Goldsmiths, London and The Glasgow School of Art and lives and works in Glasgow. Winner of the 2018 Turner Prize, Prodger has also received the 2014 Margaret Tait Award and 2017 Paul Hamlyn Award. Selected solo exhibitions include: Turner Prize, Tate Britain, London (2018); BRIDGIT/Stoneymollan Trail, Bergen Kunsthall; Subtotal, SculptureCenter, New York (2017); BRIDGIT, Hollybush Gardens, London; Charlotte Prodger, Kunstverein Düsseldorf (2016); 8004–8019, Spike Island, Bristol; Stoneymollan Trail, Temple Bar, Dublin (2015); Nephatiti, Glasgow International Director’s Programme; Markets (with The Block), Chelsea Space, London (2014); Percussion Biface 1-13, Studio Voltaire, London; COLON HYPHEN ASTERIX, Intermedia CCA, Glasgow (2012); Handclap/Punchhole, Kendall Koppe, Glasgow (2011). Selected group exhibitions include: Always Different, Always the Same: An Essay on Art and Systems, Bunder Kunstmuseum, Chur; ORGASMIC STREAMING ORGANIC GARDENING ELECTROCULTURE, Chelsea Space, London (2018); British Art Show 8(2016); Weight of Data , Tate Britain, London; An Interior that Remains an Exterior, Künstlerhaus Graz (2015); Frozen Lakes, Artists Space, New York (2014).
4. Linsey Young is a curator based in London and Glasgow. Having previously held curatorial positions at Inverleith House, Edinburgh, and The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Young is currently Curator Contemporary British Art at Tate, where she is lead curator of the Turner Prize, responsible for overseeing the project each time it is held in London.
5. Linsey Young is curating in partnership with Alexia Holt, Associate Director & Visual Arts Producer at Cove Park. Located on the west coast of Scotland in Argyll and Bute, Cove Park runs an annual programme of creative development residencies for national and international artists. The programme enables artists working across all art forms and at all stages in their careers to develop new work in the context of an outstanding 50-acre rural site overlooking Loch Long.  Prodger undertook her first residency at Cove Park in 2010, taking part in a residency programme designed to support early career visual artists, and returned again in the summer of 2018 to develop her first ideas for the Scotland + Venice commission. For further information please visit: http://covepark.org, and follow @CovePark and facebook.com/Cove-Park

Photo of Charlotte Prodger by Patrick Staff