Art Riot at the Saatchi Gallery

The Lovely Gallery

As it was sometime since I'd been to the Saatchi Gallery in (Chelsea) and as the current exhibition is drawing to an end (Art Riot-ends on 7th January) I decided to make a trip over there.

First thing to say is that apart from it making me think again ab out 'What is Art?' it focused my thoughts on how Russia post the end of the Soviet Union continues to be problematic and somewhat authoritarian under it's present rulers and system of government -is it Putin or the desire for Mother Russia that has been co-opted by today's Politicians there?

Having seen a number of exhibitions commemorating the Russian Revolution I am forced to address the question of the identity of Russia as being, in terms of a state/country not revelling in a 'Free' society in many ways.

Despite many issues in the UK (and the USA) the west does appear more able to accommodate dissent  and debate.

Russian Art

Emblematic of the resistance to Putin and his fellow travellers are Pussy Riot and looking at their work it is clear that they have suffered persecution and inhumane treatment during their imprisonment.


Another artist featured Oleg Kulik has made 'Performance' type statements which are shown - and there is much here that reminds us of the Ancient Greek philosopher  Diogenes and his Dog like behaviour .

Pussy Riot - a loose group committed to Freedom 

There is much in the exhibition about protest including a reenactment of an interrogation.


Also troubling are pictures that show an artist (Petr Pavlensky) with testicles nailed to the ground surrounded by barbed wire.

Selfie time (95)

At Saatchi gallery yesterday afternoon - Charles Saatchi seems to many a bit of a Marmite figure and I'm not too sure how hands on he is with the Gallery (I think I saw him outside yesterday) but he really does provide a great free Gallery to see contemporary art in.

The exhibition is about Selfies and self portraits (showing that it's not new) - Hawei seem heavily involved - also a chance to see the infamous Gavin Turk piece of him as a synthesis of  Sid Vicious and the  Andy Warhol representation of Elvis.

Perhaps some find this 'shallow' but you can easily be 'ironic' or even post modern about it and it is fun.

Here's Gavin Being playful.

And when you needed 2 people to hold the camera

A guy who was after the stars 

More playful stuff

It wasn't all selfies

Well £124.02 and about a quarter of the year gone

Doors

The arrival at number 95 was intriguing -increasingly I need longer roads and coming to them 'blind' I'm not sure that I'll have the number I want - Cadogan Gardens has a very odd layout ( look on the map) but thankfully it  does go up to 95.

In terms of layout the oddest road I've come across so far

A door on high

More at the Saatchi and Red 9

The smell of oil is something I'm forever associating with the Saatchi Gallery because of the work of Richard Wilson (20:50) - have tried to capture the scope of his site specific installation there.

an odd 360 degrees

I'm hoping that it doesn't similarly suggest flogging a dead horse  or a load of pots  - what I generally get when I visit the gallery is a air of 'cool' and a slower pace from the rest of London - The man behind the venue doesn't get a great media coverage (in terms of his persona) but he does give us a place worth pausing in.

Jerusalem Donkey (2015)  by Mia Feuer 

Maha Malluh's Burnt Pots (570 of them)

I like their shop too

A part of their shop

Red 9

We've had a few Red Phones (354 and 60)  - this'll be the last and the 'Bling-iest'

A phone for a Princess?

Henri Barande and Red 11

Visiting the Saatchi gallery by Sloane Square after it's return to 'normal' (it was home for the summer to a Rolling Stones exhibition) I was reminded what a pleasure it is to spend time there- big spaces and the opportunity to get close to the works set it apart from many London spaces.

Some of the work on show I was seeing for a second time like the multiple  canvases of Julia Wachtel and the  highly detailed faces of Jelena Bulajic.

Ljubica by Jelena 

Landscape No. 19 by Julia 

What stood out to me on this visit though was the work of the enigmatic and somewhat reclusive French artist Henri Barande and in particular his take on The Last Supper (as far as I and some other visitors could decode).

A sign to

What was odd about it was the way that from a distance it created the image but as you got closer it was gone - like some sort of post Briget Riley Op art on Crack it felt  wildly addictive.

many big bold works

And some times you see it

But it doesn't get clearer.

Red 11

And still on the art theme  here's a Mondrian- influence tile arrangement  at Pimlico

Mondrian liked his Reds too 

More Blue Plaque Rich Pickings (2) and Red 103

So as well as some fine buildings there are plenty of Blue Plaques showing important residents of London's often fashionable King's Road area.

The 'Mess' by the Saatchi Gallery

Home to  a Painter and a Poet

Our City Lit guide unlike me is not a fan of Dante Gabriel Rossetti -seems he lived at this address in Cheyne walk with the sometime poet Swinburne.






Also on our route were the homes of Scott (of the Antarctic) and the composer Thomas Attwood.

Scott of Chelsea (& Antarctic)

The composer Thomas Attwood

Sloane backed the 'garden'

Here we can see the connections to King Henry and Sir Hans Sloane -Sloane was a figure behind the Chelsea Physic Garden.

A part of  a very real history that played out in West London

Red 103

Also just by Saatchi Gallery which is hosting a look back at the Rolling Stones this dramamtically red pair of lips (times two).

Amazing how the band's brand still can utilise Mick's lips - I wonder if younger listeners know the derivation.

A lifetime on the lips