Saatchi picks Scots for new sensation

Newspeak: British Art will feature the life-sized sculptured figures of dishevelled men crowded into a corner or lying in a heap of rubbish. It is created by the Scottish duo littlewhitehead.

It will also showcase the airy abstract sculptures made from cellophane, paint and dirt by Glasgow's rapidly rising star, Karla Black.

In 1997, Saatchi's Sensation exhibition introduced the Young British Artists, including Hirst and Emin, to a wider public. The milestone show may have outraged and infuriated traditionalists but it sealed their role as contemporary art celebrities.

The Scottish artists are now featured in the renamed exhibition at London's Saatchi Gallery, which showcases up-and-coming talent.

The list is probably topped by Black, who is widely praised for her ephemeral sculptures made from household materials such as cellophane, plaster powder, paint and most recently soil. The Glasgow-based artist's career has gone into overdrive this year following some major international exhibitions, including at Inverleith House in Edinburgh.

Last month she was named as the solo artist representing Scotland in next year's Venice Biennale. She was also selected for the British Art Show, another sampling of top British artists in a prestigious touring show.

Saatchi is also fan of littlewhitehead, the offbeat, lesser known duo of Craig Little and Blake Whitehead, who began working together in Glasgow in 2007. Their off-beat figurative sculptures made from plaster, wax and clothing quickly won them publicity. Saatchi has brought three of their works. They include Sentient Orbs, which features a child being carried off by balloons.

Whitehead said: "We've already had some quite good publicity, just from being included in the show. Charles is one of the few people out there just now committed to purchasing emerging art."

The oldest of the five artists is Scottish-born Donald Urquhart, who is known for his striking pen and ink drawings. He moved to London after being rejected by the Glasgow School of Art.

Painter Iain Hetherington, like Black, is represented by the Mary Mary gallery in Glasgow, and paints satirical "portraits" that look like abstract still lives.

Dundee-trained artist Clare Stephenson, like Black, hardly needs Saatchi's exposure; her striking figurative screenprints and drawings have featured in galleries world-wide.

The gallery's associate director Rebecca Wilson said a lot of the work demonstrated "a return to very skilled painting and drawing".

The show opens in June at Saatchi's Chelsea gallery.