ARTIST Carlos Capelan is about to stage an exhibition of pictures made from nail clippings.

The 56-year-old, from Uruguay, collects them to use in his art, which he says "explores issues of identity".

It will be the first time his work has been exhibited in Britain when it is shown at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, at Gateshead.

His work will go on show from the beginning of next month.

Meanwhile, an exhibition at the Baltic by two Finnish artists will see a model train running on tracks around the gallery floor.

A tiny cinema in the centre of the track will feature video clips with people telling memorable moments from their lives, as part of the work by Veli Grano and Tuovi Hippelainen.

A Baltic spokeswoman said art chiefs were delighted by the line-up and were positive the exhibits will prove popular.

She said: "One of the things we have always tried hard to achieve is to bring together a wide range of ideas and work at the Baltic.

"The upcoming exhibitions do sound quite quirky and different, but one of the exciting things is that they are so different and unusual, but they are going to be on at the same time as each other.

"We're confident they will be really popular shows and a lot of people will be very interested in them when they come along."

Published: 14/09/2004