British Art Now: Part II

The Saatchi gallery have pronounced that this showcase is a "museum-scale survey of emergent British contemporary art" which adds to the already high expectation from the gallery which introduced the world to acclaimed leading-edge artists such as Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst.

Therefore it’s initially disappointing when there is nothing shocking or controversial on display and there are many more paintings than there is; photography, sculpture and mixed media but perhaps this is reflective on changing times and styles. The curator told us, “Although some of these artists have just graduated and some are in their 40’s, they are a different generation to our previous exhibitions. They merge traditional and contemporary, east and west, celebrity and classicism.”

As you enter you’re greeted with Ansel Krut’s oil work which is direct, funny and doesn’t require reading an essay to understand. He attempts to create a weird juxtaposition within his work, with arses mooning at you through flowers and alcohol being poured directly into someone’s brain.

Jonathan Wateridge had the most exciting collection; at first I thought the gallery was filled with blown up photographs of famous scenes I’ve seen before. On closer inspection of ‘Space Program’ it’s actually an intricate painting which plays on our sense of familiar, the ship is unfinished with a milk bottle top and the astronauts costume made of plumbing gear. When you do realise, although it’s comedic it makes you consider how much you really view and consider images of symbolic status. Another artist creating fictional scenes is Anne Hardy who built theatrical and fantasy inspired rooms in her studio, of buried rooms and surveillance grottos, yet despite the intricate work to make such a scenario she chooses to present them in 2D, through flattened photography.

Following the theme of comedic commentary, James Howard used 46 photoshopped prints inspired by spam e-mails in his junk folder. He Uses text and images which pray on insecurities and needs of the common person, advertising and attempting to entice people with false hopes of money or seeing their loved ones who have passed away. The text is child-like and unbelievable, almost a replica of the trashy spam I find myself receiving. He said, “I work with urgency to get as much of this stuff processed before it’s entirely lost: soon spam filters will be so advanced that we’ll forget what spam e-mail ever was.”

Although I felt a lot of the paintings where unmemorable and these artists are still largely unknown in the wider art world, these new British artists are tipped as the successors to the famous Young British Artists of the 1990s. It’s an exhibition definitely worth checking out and will be open until April 2011 at the Saatchi Gallery, King's Road, Chelsea.

As with some other posts, this will feature on The Other Side Magazine.