ONE of Scotland's leading modern artists has declared she cannot sell a work to Glasgow City Council, in a protest at the proposed closure of the Tramway visual arts venue.

In an escalation of the row over the gallery space, Lucy Skaer - who was nominated this year for the prestigious Becks Futures prize and was part of the acclaimed Scottish pavilion at the Venice Biennale - has said that she cannot proceed with the sale of a work to the Gallery of Modern Art.

Skaer has told Victoria Hollows, the manager of Goma, that she is reconsidering her position with the gallery ''in light of the city council's co-operation with Scottish Ballet's proposed bid to take over the visual art space in Tramway''. She has postponed the transfer of work to the gallery.

A council spokesman said the decision was ''baffling''.

Skaer says she supports Goma and has said she would love to have her work included in its collection. However, she felt she could not co-operate with the council ''at this time''.

Skaer, 28, was born in Cambridge and studied at Glasgow School of Art. She lives and works in the city and is considered a leader in her field.

It is unclear how much money she has lost by dropping the deal, her first with Goma, but no working artist lightly turns down sales - especially to a respected gallery.

Skaer's action was applauded by campaigners hoping to keep the Tramway 2 space open as a visual arts site, and could lead to an artists' boycott of council galleries.

Sorcha Dallas, another

Glasgow-based artist who was involved in Thursday night's demonstration outside the venue - another is planned

for tonight - said Skaer was a well respected, talented figure and her move was likely to be followed by others.

''I think it is an admirable thing for Lucy to do, and hopefully this will inspire others too,'' she said. ''I think it shows how strongly the visual arts community feels about the situation.''

Artists and curators from across Scotland are campaigning against plans to use National Lottery money from the Scottish Arts Council to transform the large exhibition space into the new headquarters of Scottish Ballet.

The Tramway has launched the careers of award-winning Scottish artists, such as Douglas Gordon and Christine Borland, and is regarded as having been an inspiration for other arts venues across the UK, such as Tate Modern.

The row surrounding the site has been inflamed further by the suspension on Tuesday of Alexia Holt, the respected arts curator for the Tramway, ''pending an investigation''.

The move has not been explained, and further angered the visual arts community who suspect that the change in the Tramway's use is a done deal.

Last night, a council spokesman said: ''We find it quite baffling that Lucy Skaer has made such an announcement, given that Glasgow City Council has not taken any decisions about Tramway.

''Scottish Ballet is putting a proposal to the Scottish Arts Council. If the proposal receives SAC support, we will be happy to talk to all interested parties.''

The spokesman said that the council remained committed to the visual arts. ''We fund small and large-scale visual arts activity, all of which makes a huge financial difference to the lives of many artists living and working in Glasgow,'' he said.

''We will continue to buy new works of art to add to our already extensive collections. If Ms Skaer is not interested in selling to Glasgow, it means more opportunities for other talented and exciting artists.''