Xavier Veilhan to Represent France at 2017 Venice Biennale

Nicholas Forrest of Artinfo reports that Xavier Veilhan will represent France in the 2017 Venice Biennale. The announcement was made by Audrey Azoulay, France’s minister of culture and communication, and Jean-Marc Ayrault, the minister of foreign affairs and international development.
Veilhan, who lives and works in Paris, is a sculptor who works in a variety of media, but is most well known for his angular, figurative works in metal.
Veilhan was chosen for his Merzbau Musical proposal, an homage to Kurt Schwitters’s proto-installation work Merzbau, which was created in his Hanover home between 1923–37, but was eventually destroyed due to an Allied bombing during World War II. Veilhan’s work will be a recording studio with various kinds of musical instruments, some made specifically for the project.
The commissioners for French pavilion are the Swiss critic, publisher, and historian Lionel Bovier, and artist Christian Marclay.