It resembles an abandoned palace, ankle-deep in autumnal leaves, studded with strange furniture and sinister metal beds and tables.
It resembles an abandoned palace, ankle-deep in autumnal leaves, studded with strange furniture and sinister metal beds and tables.
Scotland's exhibition at the most prestigious arts festival in the world, the Venice Biennale, seems to have fulfilled the aims of Martin Boyce, the Glaswegian artist picked to represent the country, of "making a mark" in the city.
The main room in the 500-year-old palace has already impressed those who have seen it: filled with giant concrete steps, like a cross between crazy paving and the Giants Causeway.
Yesterday, The Herald got a sneak peek of No Reflections, the Scottish exhibition at this year's La Biennale di Venezia, the 53rd Venice Biennale of contemporary art.
Filling seven rooms of the fading grandeur of the 15th century Palazzo Pisani, Martin Boyce, the 41-year-old Glasgow-based artist, has produced a series of sculptures, wall-based elements, odd furniture and eerie installations.
One bed is made entirely from metal, including its pillow, while another room houses an eerie bird table that could also be a masked statue.
Boyce said the exhibition was inspired by, amongst other things, the idea of an abandoned zoo, or a secret garden lost to the world.
Although not the main purpose of the show, the art is also for sale: Boyce is represented by the Modern Institute of Glasgow who are also in Venice this week.
A private collector or large public gallery is the likely owner of an exhibition which contains many large new works of art.
Boyce is the first artist to represent Scotland at the world's most prestigious art show since Scotland launched its own independent show in 2003.
The UK this year is represented by film maker Steve McQueen and Wales by the Velvet Underground founder, John Cale.
Philip Long, the senior curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, said after he viewed the work for the first time: "I think it looks very impressive. It really has a quiet confidence and maturity to it.
"I see things here that are quite sinister, which is a departure for him."
Of the solo show, as opposed to the group shows favoured in previous years, he said: "It certainly makes a mark. That doesn't mean the previous group shows were wrong - that was about demonstrating the breadth of talent in Scotland. What we have every time in Venice is unpredictable."
Mr Long would not be drawn on whether there would be a Scottish presence at the Biennale in 2011, saying it depended on funding and decisions by all the parties backing this year's £250,000 show: the National Galleries of Scotland, the British Council and the Scottish Arts Council, as well as Dundee Contemporary Arts, where the exhibition will be re-staged in December.
The artist said he was delighted by the final look of the exhibition, which has its official press view today and opens to the public on Friday.
Boyce said: "Bringing the work to the Palazzo, the work just sits in here perfectly, more than I could have hoped, so I am delighted."
The artist is not the only Scot enjoying the festival this year. Nine Scottish art students have been handed a once in a life time opportunity to work as gallery assistants.
Three of them - Hannah Champion, 20, from Edinburgh, Bonnie Lee Huarneck, 23, from Glasgow and Rachael Rebus, 21, from East Lothian - were yesterday soaking up the sights of the famous city.
The students, who are all at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, will respond to enquiries from visitors to the Scottish exhibition at the Biennale, help to promote it, and ensure the artwork on display is secure.
