Shop walls to be covered in chocolate in Anya Gallaccio art installation

An artist will cover the walls of an empty shop with chocolate to “engage the senses”, 21 years after she was nominated for the Turner Prize.

The artwork by Anya Gallaccio will be unveiled at 18 High Street in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in September as part of Jupiter+, Jupiter Artland’s nationwide art and learning programme.

The installation will “engage the senses” with “beautifully scented chocolate”, organisers said, in the unoccupied shop space in the town where Gallaccio was born.

The acclaimed artist, who was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2003, was born in Paisley but grew up in London and went on to study at Goldsmiths’ College in the capital.

She is known for her work with sculpture, using materials including flowers, fruit and grass which decay over time.

The exhibition is organised by Jupiter Artland, which has a large outdoor arts space near Edinburgh (PA)

In 1996 she created a 34-tonne ice cube with salt at its centre – named Intensities and Surfaces – which slowly melted, exploring themes of transience.

Young people from every school and college in the council area will be invited to visit the installation in Paisley, which will be in one room of the shop.

It will be exhibited from September 7 to December 31, coinciding with a major retrospective at Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent.

A spokesperson for Jupiter Artland said: “Over the years of working with Anya my respect for her work has deepened. She always thinks about material in a magical alchemical manner… creating extraordinary moments where one matter becomes another.

“This is the stuff that ignites imagination and allows for freedom of thought so valuable for a young person and yet so rarely created.

“We are looking forward to harnessing this power for the young people of Paisley.”

Jupiter Artland is an award-winning contemporary sculpture park, located just outside Edinburgh.

Set over 100 acres, it has to date commissioned more than 35 permanent sculptures from leading artists including Andy Goldsworthy, Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Anya Gallaccio, Charles Jencks, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Tracey Emin.