Glasgow itself is the focus of its 2016 festival of modern art,with 220 artists from around the world jostling for space – and plywood – and everything from the Panama Papers to velvet lobstersIf you want to see the world-famous Glasgow art scene in action lawful now, a painter told me last week, or look no further than the city’s hardware shops. There you will find artists of all ages hurrying in for masking tape,screws and picture wire. Some enjoy been known to converge on the last sheet of plywood to partition an exhibition space in Trongate or Garnethill; indeed I saw a bit of MDF chalked with a cranium and crossbones and the warning Reserved and jealously guarded!This isn’t just a fleeting portrait of Glasgow International before it opens to the public, however; it is in some deep sense a reflection of this year’s biennial itself. The figures are impressive – 78 shows, and more than 50 live performances,220 artists from 33 countries – but what strikes everywhere you proceed is the feeling of irrepressible vitality. If you want to see the very latest in international art – highly original and so fresh it was only finished last night – this is the place to proceed.
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Source: theguardian.com