Saatchi Gallery (London)

The Saatchi Gallery, a showcase for Young British Art was recently relocated to County Hall, on the South Bank of the Thames. For its opening, a polka-dot mini (that’s the car, not the skirt) was proudly displayed on the steps in homage to Young British Art’s favourite son, Damien Hirst. Oh, and lots of naked people lay in front of the steps. I dragged my reluctant other half along to the Gallery last week, having heard wondrous reviews of avant ...
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The Saatchi Gallery is approximately equidistant from Westminster Tube Station (District, Circle, or Jubilee Line) and Waterloo (Northern, Jubilee and Bakerloo lines as well as mainline rail from Southern England, and Eurostar trains from the continent). It’s about a 10 minute walk from both stations and is very easy to find, being located right next to the London Eye, which is about 125 metres tall and visible throughout much of London. ... more

The Saatchi Gallery, a showcase for Young British Art was recently relocated to County Hall, on the South Bank of the Thames. For its opening, a polka-dot mini (that’s the car, not the skirt) was proudly displayed on the steps in homage to Young British Art’s favourite son, Damien Hirst. Oh, and lots of naked people lay in front of the steps. I dragged my reluctant other half along to the Gallery last week, having heard wondrous reviews of avant garde exhibits that push the boundaries of art – and we both left exhilarated and inspired.

The Saatchi Gallery is approximately equidistant from Westminster Tube Station (District, Circle, or Jubilee Line) and Waterloo (Northern, Jubilee and Bakerloo lines as well as mainline rail from Southern England, and Eurostar trains from the continent). It’s about a 10 minute walk from both stations and is very easy to find, being located right next to the London Eye, which is about 125 metres tall and visible throughout much of London. However, we did completely miss the entrance which faces onto the Thames but requires you to ascend some well hidden steps.

County Hall, the former home of the Greater London Council, is an attractive setting for an art gallery, providing 40,000 square feet of gallery space. I know nothing about architecture but the building is light and spacious and has an attractive arched frontage. Inside, the gallery is on one level and I think wheelchair access might be available from the rear of the building, but I would ring to check before visiting. The gallery is open from 10am – 10pm Friday to Saturday, 10 – 6 Sunday to Thursday).

Walking into the gallery, you are greeted by a few examples of the type of art you can expect to see inside, including a picture by Dexter Dalwood. He paints pictures of how he imagines the houses of famous people to look (Liberace’s living room is lurid pink, the Queen’s bedroom features a single bed and an electric bar heater!) There is also a sleeping bag artfully arranged in the entrance, reminiscent of the homeless people so prevalent in the capital. The reception area is small but adequate with a limited gift selection, featuring postcards, posters and T Shirts depicting the exhibits. Entrance is £8.50 for adults or £6.50 for concessions (that’s me, hurrah!) but you can get a discounted ticket of £5.00 if you pre-book a group (Tel 0870 1160 278). You’re required to leave bags in the cloakroom (free) before entering, which is just beyond the reception area, as are the toilets. Both facilities are clean and pleasant.

There is absolutely no warning about the type of thing you are going to see before you enter the gallery. Obviously this is because the whole gallery is designed to shock, but I am giving you a warning now – children and adults too, may be disturbed by some of the exhibits.

The very first room is possibly the most shocking. It features work by Damien Hirst, who is probably the best known young British Artist (he of the formaldehyde sheep fame). As well as the famous multi-coloured polka dot picture (“Argininosuccinic Acid”) which has been adopted as the Saatchi’s trademark, the room contains a fully enclosed tank containing a real cow’s head, rotting and swarming with flies (“A Thousand Years”). It also contains the famous and cryptically named “Some comfort gained from the acceptance of the inherent lies in everything” – which features a cow and a steer, each sliced into about 5 pieces from head to tail, pickled in formaldehyde in individual tanks, the pieces of each animal alternately displayed in a line, the cow facing one direction, the steer the other. Neither of us could stay in this room for very long because we found it unnerving, but we saw several small children happily looking around it!

Fortunately, the next, and main room is (slightly) more palatable. It features exhibits by such stellar artists as Chris Ofili (“The Holy Virgin Mary”, a depiction of a black Madonna, decorated with elephant dung), Tracey Emin (The Turner Prize nominee “My Bed” – a stained, but realistic bed surrounded by used condoms, pregnancy test kits, cigarettes, photographs), Jenny Saville (famous for realistic depictions of the female form). A highlight for me in this room was (somewhat surprisingly) an exhibit by Damien Hirst, featuring a psychiatrist’s chair, desk, computer, keyboard (with user’s glasses abandoned on top) encased in a fish tank, in which swims a school of large silver fish! Just to keep up the shock factor, there is Jake and Dinos Chapman’s exhibit “Great Deeds Against the Dead” – a display of mutilated bodies, all with genitalia removed, one of which is missing a head and arms. It is extremely realistic and not very pleasant to look at! In the room you can also see Marcus Harvey’s “Myra” a clever (and enormous, 3.96m x 3.20m) representation of the famous photograph of Myra Hindley. On close inspection, you can see that the artist has used children’s handprints to create the picture – a chilling use of irony in art.

One of the many exhibits which is well known in this gallery is Richard Wilson’s “20:50”. This is a room which has been encased in a waist-high metal tank, into which a walkway extends. The tank is filled with used sump oil, which is highly reflective, giving the surface a mirrored appearance. I had heard about this exhibit before I visited the gallery so was aware of its composition, but my boyfriend hadn’t and didn’t realise that the room was not in fact a mirror, but filled with oil.

I could go on and on for hours describing all the many exhibits which we liked, as well as those we found shocking, but the displays change periodically, so this would date my opinion. However, on my visit there were at least 5 dead animals of Damien Hirst’s on display (including Hirst’s very first, the shark, and the famous sheep). The gallery was extraordinary – around every corner another display jumps out to surprise or disgust you.

One of the things I liked best about the Saatchi Gallery was that it treats you as an adult. There are no ropes to hold you back from the exhibits. For example, one of the items is a skewed, out of perspective picnic table holding several half-filled pints of lager. I was actually able to smell the lager and confirm that it was not just coloured water. This to me is a vitally important point – many times my enjoyment of art has been spoilt by my inability to inspect it at close range and note the artist’s attention to detail.

Another thing which for me was very useful was the explanations. I am not the most perceptive of people, and while the significance of using children’s hand prints to depict Myra Hindley will not escape me, more subtle messages do tend to pass me by. The explanations of the exhibits are concise, yet informative, explaining the messages the artists intend to portray. Where a sheep floating in formaldehyde is concerned, this is essential! A good example is Ron Mueck’s “Dead Dad”, a lifelike but small (just 1m long) model of the artist’s deceased father. When I saw this I thought little of it, but the explanation tells you that the model is small to reflect the fact that in death, one’s parents are much smaller than we ever remembered.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Saatchi Gallery. It took us about 1.5 hours to see everything, and although the entrance fee is high (especially considering that the nearby Tate Modern is free!) I feel it was money well spent – we talked about what we had seen for the rest of the day. We were shocked by the some of the pieces and certainly questioned their validity as “art” but at the end of the day this is what the Saatchi Gallery is all about – pushing the boundaries of what is considered to be art.
 

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