Richard Parry, the curator and director at the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool, has been named as the director of the Glasgow International contemporary art festival, replacing Sarah McCrory who organised the 2014 and 2016 editions of the biennial. Parry will oversee the eighth edition, which is due to take place next spring (20 April-7 May 2018). Further details of the programme encompassing Scottish and international artists will be announced later this year.
Parry joined the Grundy Art Gallery in 2013, where he organised exhibitions such as Sensory Systems (2015) and Neon: the Charged Line (2016), which included works by artists such as Mai-Thu Perret, Fiona Banner and Paulina Olowska. He was assistant curator at the Hayward Gallery in London where he co-organised Psycho Buildings (2008) and Tracey Emin: Love is What You Want (2011).
The 2016 edition of Glasgow International was described by Louisa Buck, The Art Newspaper’s contemporary art correspondent, as “a heady, sprawling mix of 78 exhibitions by 220 local and international artists, established and unknown”. Festival funders include Glasgow Life, the charity that runs culture and sports facilities for Glasgow City Council, and the national arts agency, Creative Scotland.
Earlier this year, McCrory was appointed director of the new contemporary art gallery at Goldsmiths college in south-east London. The inaugural show in the public space at the heart of the campus is due to open early 2018.
