One of Scotland's leading artists, and a former official war artist is to represent the nation at the world's biggest visual art festival.

Graham Fagen, born in Glasgow in 1966 and a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, will create the show for Scotland at the 56th Venice Biennale next year.

The show, at a venue in the Italian city yet to be announced, will run from May 9 to November 22, and will be curated by Hospitalfield Arts of Arbroath.

Fagen's art mixes media; combining video, performance, photography, and sculpture with text, live music, and a variety of other objects.

Fagen, based in Glasgow, has some major shows in Scotland already planned this year.

He has a forthcoming solo show, Cabbages in an Orchard, at the Glasgow School of Art, and Peek-A-Jobby at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art as part of 'Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art from Scotland', a major nationwide show of contemporary art being held in venues across the country.

Hospitalfield Arts is based in the early arts and crafts house and grounds of the 19th century artist and collector, Patrick Allan-Fraser.

South of Arbroath, the house, collections and estate were left in trust on Allan-Fraser's death and in 1901 Hospitalfield was established as a place of work and learning for artists and students.

Lucy Byatt, director of Hospitalfield Arts, said: "This is an outstanding opportunity for Hospitalfield Arts to work closely with an artist such as Graham Fagen and to bring to Venice a project that emerges from our work in Arbroath in the beautiful region of Angus."

Ms Byatt said that Fagen, who was part of Scotland's Zenomap show in Venice in 2003, is a versatile artist who often works in reaction to a place or idea, but said it was too early to comment on what the artist would present in Venice next year.

This will be the 7th presentation from Scotland + Venice, which is backed by Creative Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland and the British Council in Scotland.

In 1999 Fagen was invited by the Imperial War Museum, to work as the official War Artist for Kosovo.

Sarah Lucas will represent the UK at the Biennale.