DRAWINGS by Shotts Prison inmates depicting the horrors of war in Iraq have been unveiled at one of the world's largest art festivals.

It is the first time Scottish prisoners have displayed work at the Venice Biennale.

The inmates are ex-soldiers serving time in the maximum security prison in North Lanarkshire.

Along with inmates from Everthorpe and Parc prisons, they have portrayed stark depictions of the conflict.

In addition, they have created portraits of figures such as Dr David Kelly, the Iraq weapons inspector who was found dead in 2003, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Sir John Scarlett, former intelligence service director.

Their work will be shown at the festival's official UK Pavilion.

In the show, the prison artists are only identified by one name or nicknames.

The piece EZI from Shotts shows two dead figures lying prone while a UK soldier looks on. The picture entitled R&R depicts two soldiers smoking crack cocaine before another deployment.

The works are part of an exhibition by Jeremy Deller, who visited Shotts earlier this year and worked with the prisoners on the portraits and pictures.

Deller, whose inflatable Stonehenge called Sacrilege was a hit at Glasgow's GI festival, said he wanted the works to convey the soldier's profound war experiences.

He said: "I spent a lot of time working with these men who had lived through some very powerful experiences in Iraq.

"The scene of the crack smoking was told to me by one of the men, a scene he saw just before another deployment. There is another very powerful account by a sniper who is now in one of the jails."

The prison art is a stark and formal display in Deller's show, which elsewhere tackles Russian oligarchs, Prince Harry, and the tax haven of St Helier.

He said it could be seen as a "state of the nation" show, albeit one that is depicting "melancholic aggression".

Later this year, eight ex-offenders will travel to Venice as part of an education initiative, accompanied by staff from the Koestler Trust, which promotes art in the criminal justice system.

Those that travel to Venice will be "carefully risk assessed and will all have settled in the community", the British Council, which runs the UK Pavilion, said.

On their return to the UK, the ex-offenders will be give advice about future options in art education or employment.

Scotland will host its own show at the festival, located in the Palazzo Pisani near the Rialto bridge.

It will feature the work of three Glasgow-based artists, Duncan Campbell, Corin Sworn and Hayley Tompkins.