The Saatchi Gallery and #80 is Space

Can we forgive him though?

Today I visited the Saatchi gallery (Kings Road- nearest tube Sloane Square) and I must report that I really like it. I like the building and the clarity of the displays (the main themed works currently showing are around Soviet and Moscow Art).

Also:
1) It is far less restrictive in getting up close to the works.
2) It is not overtly soliciting money from visitors.
3) It is free to become a member.

The Artists despair..

I had a look at the history of the gallery  before making the journey - The founder of the gallery (and a big supporter of YBAs) is Charles Saatchi one half of the advertising brothers whose advertising famously promoted the Conservatives in the 1970s  - well let's park that for now and consider some of the stuff on show currently, here's a non-exhaustive list of the artists who tickled my fancy:

One of Yelana's

Criminal Government

Anna Parkina had a rather interesting use of collage and cut up text technique.
Yelena Popova odd little collections of items
Three's a collection of photo's by Vikenti Nilin where various bored looking individuals look about to jump.
Some dreamy gossamer paintings by Jānis Avotiņš.

An excitingly named Sex in the City by Gosha OStretsov (he did the prison cell picture (criminal Government) too.
The deeply intriguing 'The Artist's Despair or the Conspiracy of the Untalented' by Ilya Kabakov.

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the gift shop at the Gallery too, I've just finished Francis Wheen's biography of Tom Driberg The Soul of Indiscretion - not an easy read for me but it means I'll probably start another soon, one which appeals is 30 second philosophies. I was Pleased to see the Crofton Book in the gallery shop anyway..

So Space is Idea 80 ...(from the Crofton Book)

Space is according to Newtonian Physics pretty fundamental with it's 3 dimensions but relativity (later) is not so sure as it throws in time as the number 4 dimension.

It's defined as A continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied: "he backed out of the parking space".

Well Crofton tells me that the theory doing the rounds is that big bang started 13.7 Billion years ago and that since then space has continued to expand.