Charles Saatchi on Art and Me on Mince Pies
With a ten day delay and a need to expand on my previous post, I have to elaborate on Charles Saatchi's recent article in the Guardian, The Hideousness of the Art World - the vulgar and depressingly shallow super-rich art-buying crowd. He is disgusted with the Eurotrashy, Hedge-fundy, Hamptonites, trendy oligarchs and the masturbatory levels of art dealer's self-regard. They could be found nestling together in their super yachts for this year's Venice bienalle, from one swanky party to another. The success of the uber dealers rests on the spending super powers of the billionaires. Saatchi finds the new art world too toe-curling for comfort. These people have no feeling for art and don't demonstrate much curiosity. They don't even bother looking at the works on display when they crowd around the grand openings of the exhibitions.
Gone are the days, indeed.
The self-appointed art 'connoisseur', Roman Abramovich's girlfriend, (on the right).
I am curious to find out why Saatchi suddenly decided to mention the obvious and why exactly now?
My guess is that he had seen enough of this super-rich phenomenon and had to explode and get it out of his chest. Maybe he felt the need to distance himself from this crowd and remind us that whatever controversy he might have caused by being, (in his own words), 'self-serving, narcissistic showoff', he is a man with a genuine passion for art. Whatever he has done in the world of art he has done as a result of this passion and genuine love for art. And he wasn't in it for the money.
Saatchi also notes that these uber art dealers and curators prefer to exhibit videos and 'incomprehensible post-conceptual installations and photo-text panels'. The article was published three days before the Turner Prize jury showed preference for Martin Boyce's installation over the paintings of George Shaw. As if to prove Saatchi right.
To repeat the pattern from my previous post, I will end with more mince pies.
After some more tasting, I am sorry to say that some of the scandalously expensive mince pies proved to be most disappointing. Yotam Ottolenghi's mince pies are crumbly, bitter and utterly unmemorable. I love Yotam's savoury creations but the mince pie, at £2.80 is a total rip off. Even if it is double in size and fit for oligarchs.
Sally Clarke's pies are bland, bland. That leaves us with Raymond Blanc. If you like to have your pie and eat it with pleasure, take a stroll to Maison Blanc. Only £1.10 for a mince pie.
Takashi Murakami- art favoured by the super-rich
To support his claim, I will quote from the October issue of the London Magazine, which is delivered free to the swanky London adresses and targets the very people, Saatchi is mentioning in his article. Referring to this year's October Freeze Art Fair, the social page of the magazine informs us: 'The world's wealthy head for the tent in Regent's Park. Gone are the days when the party to celebrate the opening of the Freeze Art Fair was for artists. Perish the thought. This year, the big white tent in Regent's Park attracted a high voltage crowd drawn from the Almanach de Gotha.Gone are the days, indeed.
I am curious to find out why Saatchi suddenly decided to mention the obvious and why exactly now?
My guess is that he had seen enough of this super-rich phenomenon and had to explode and get it out of his chest. Maybe he felt the need to distance himself from this crowd and remind us that whatever controversy he might have caused by being, (in his own words), 'self-serving, narcissistic showoff', he is a man with a genuine passion for art. Whatever he has done in the world of art he has done as a result of this passion and genuine love for art. And he wasn't in it for the money.
To repeat the pattern from my previous post, I will end with more mince pies.
After some more tasting, I am sorry to say that some of the scandalously expensive mince pies proved to be most disappointing. Yotam Ottolenghi's mince pies are crumbly, bitter and utterly unmemorable. I love Yotam's savoury creations but the mince pie, at £2.80 is a total rip off. Even if it is double in size and fit for oligarchs.
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