British Council − British Pavilion in Venice

Richard Long

1976

XXXVII (37) Art

Richard Long installation, Photograph by Julian Andrews
© Richard Long

The 37th Art Biennale was postponed until 1976 while the Biennale authorities restructured their activities to include a continuous programme of film, architecture, and other art forms. It was also agreed that the national contributions to the biennial exhibitions would be related by a common theme (in 1976, ‘The Environment’). Richard Long was chosen by a selection committee led by Gerald Forty, Director of Fine Arts Department at the British Council, to produce a site-specific work for the British Pavilion. Finding a quantity of red breccia stone in a stone-merchant’s yard near Verona, he had it transported by pontoon to Venice, and looped a trail of it three times through the Pavilion in a square spiral. The impact at the time of the opening was considerable and a steady stream of artists, journalists and assorted viewers, some of them reverentially barefoot, shuffled three times through the rooms.

Selection Committee: Peter Lasko, Michael Compton, Gerald Forty (British Council).
Commissioner: Gerald Forty (British Council).
Assistant Commissioner: Muriel Wilson (British Council).