Archives: Exhibitions

RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW features new & recent works by emerging and established artists who continue to work on diverse projects with Jealous Print Studio & Gallery. Based in East London, Jealous has built an international reputation for championing new art and for never standing still.

Curated by Jealous

Featured Artists

Jessica Albarn
Joakim Allgulander
Danny Augustine
Charming Baker
Adam Bridgland
Dave Buonaguidi
Anthony Burrill
Jake & Dinos Chapman
Mark Denton
Stanley Donwood
Eelus
Kate Gibb
Chris Levine
Ally McIntyre
Jonathan Mannion
Liam Mertens
Miaz Brothers
Andrew Millar & Word To Mother
Miss Bugs
Morag Myerscough
Sara Pope
David Shrigley
Matt Small
Gary Stranger
Jess Wilson

In Orbit, by design duo Isabel + Helen, is a series of tonal paintings produced by contraptions that have been assembled by hand from industrial materials.

This collection of imperfect circles and the tools used in their creation, explore the space between mass production & the creation of unique art works and in doing so, questions our relationship with machines.

The exposed processes and mechanics are as much a part of the project as the finished paintings. The assembling and activating of the humble machines are left to the laws of physics once the contraptions are set in motion. Whilst the brushes on the arms of the contraptions could be seen as extensions or appendages of the artists themselves, once the machines are activated and the artists have relinquished all control to the mechanisms, they are as close to being observers of the performance and outcome as the rest of us.

Channelling the constraints and repetitive nature of the past year, there is a reassurance in the hypnotic rotation and its limitations. Each painting is made up of thousands of small concentric rings which vary in colour and thickness. The circles are contained and preordained yet exercise their own power through small variations via human input – such as adding more or less paint to the brushes. These differences in the mark-making highlight the fragility of the outcome and the infinite possibilities in the re-adaptation of machines, but not always for efficiency or function.

A sense of contrasting duality underpins their work. At once there is both utility and futility; order and chaos; monotony and variety; detail and mass. The journey and the sum of its parts – a transformation from raw, stripped back materials to the emergence of the colourful and unified circles – is surprising and defiantly hopeful.

About the artists:

Isabel + Helen is the creative studio of London-based design duo Isabel Gibson and Helen Chesner. Having met whilst studying at Chelsea College of Art, they began collaborating on projects that highlighted their shared love of analogue design processes and simple kinetics. Since 2012, they have gained widespread recognition for their experimental, engineered installations and animated sculptures, which hover at the intersection of art and design.
Their practice is underpinned by an ongoing exploration of movement, materials and mechanisms, as they seek to simplify often complex ideas and ambitions, translating them into something more readable and relatable. They aim to recreate moments of simple gratification for the viewer, which are at once honest and unpretentious, yet also misleading in their apparent simplicity.

They have collaborated with a wide range of fashion brands and cultural institutions, including Hermès, Bottega Veneta, Moncler, Craig Green; V&A, and the Tate Modern. Long term collaborators; Hermès, supported the artists in the making of this exhibition.

Saatchi Gallery is pleased to host Studio 7 by Cartier, from 23rd July to 8th August 2021 – a portrait exhibition celebrating the Maison’s seven most iconic creations across watches and jewellery: Santos, Tank, Trinity, Love, Juste Un Clou, Panthère and Ballon Bleu.

Whether passed down from generation to generation or a symbolic marker of a precious moment, Cartier creations bring a sentiment like no other. Studio 7 by Cartier pays tribute to a century of incredible stories narrated through these seven Cartier collections. For the very first time, this unique show of your Cartier moments are told through a photographic journey from the past to the present, exclusively at Saatchi Gallery in London.

Gallery 1 – LEGENDS – exhibits a series of legendary historical portraits featuring Cartier creations. From Andy Warhol with his Tank watch, Jean Cocteau and his Trinity ring to Tina Turner and her Love bracelet, all portraits printed in black and white are displayed in a linear showcase. Gallery 1 also houses creations from the Cartier Collection featuring some of the earliest iterations of these iconic collections. This includes a Santos wristwatch from Cartier Paris from 1916 and the very first Juste Un Clou bracelet in yellow gold, from Cartier New York dated from 1971.

Gallery 2 – INSPIRATION – introduces a new dimension of portraiture, bringing to life modern day friends of the Maison wearing Cartier creations from all seven collections, with a personal meaning close to their heart. A series of black and white portraits by renowned British photographer Mary McCartney are projected on a floor to ceiling screen, for a fully immersive experience. Actor Vanessa Kirby is seen wearing her Juste Un Clou bracelet, whilst boxer Ramla Ali models her Panthère watch and Mary McCartney is seen with her Love bracelet in a self-portrait. Other friends of the Maison include milliner Stephen Jones OBE, actor Emma Corrin, director and actor David Oyelowo OBE amongst others.

Gallery 3 – STUDIO – is home to the Cartier Studio, a custom-built photography studio within the exhibition inviting Cartier lovers to share their very own Cartier story and to be photographed wearing their favourite Cartier creations. Photographers were chosen amongst emerging talent and mentored by Mary McCartney.

Studio 7 by Cartier brings to life a new chapter of Cartier stories in Gallery 4 – ENCOUNTERS – a dynamic and evolving exhibition space where select portraits taken in the Cartier Studio are displayed in a mosaic of digital screens. Unique print out portrait photographs will be printed in black and white for guests, a keepsake for years to come.

CARTIER ICONS

Santos

Simplicity. Practicality. Innovation. These were the three major principles of Alberto Santos-Dumont, the aviation pioneer. Every single one of his projects was guided by the desire to make further progress. In 1904, Louis Cartier granted the famous aviator’s wish: to be able to tell the time while flying, manning the controls of his plane without having to stop to check his pocket watch. He revolutionised watchmaking by creating the first modern wristwatch.

Tank

At the start of the 20th century, Louis Cartier undertook formal research with the aim of incorporating the hour circle into the lines of the bracelet and to refine and ultimately integrate the design of the horns so that they continue from the case onto the bracelet. Although first developed by Cartier in late 1916, the Tank wasn’t launched until 1919. Between 15 November and 26 December 1919, six pieces were added to stock; on 17 January of the following year, none were left. The Tank is the watch of aesthetes and creatives looking for ultimate elegance, who appreciate it for its pure design.

Trinity

This cult ring, spanning the boundaries between jewellery and sculpture, feminine and masculine, playful and symbolic, was born of the imagination of Louis Cartier in 1924, the year it can first be found in the Maison’s registers. The Trinity ring was greeted with acclaim, as was the Trinity bracelet. A symbol of French chic and elegance, all are irresistibly drawn to it.

Love

Created in New York in 1969 by the Cartier designer Aldo Cipullo, the Love bracelet is an icon of jewellery design. A unisex piece full of symbolism, the Love bracelet is a statement piece, a physical embodiment of feelings. Love is no longer free but joins lovers together through a band of gold worn on the wrist and which is closed using a specific screwdriver. This bracelet is like a precious handcuff since two people are needed to secure the screws. By wearing it, every couple may proclaim their love for one another for all to see.

Juste Un Clou

When the Juste un Clou bracelet was created in 1971 in New York by Aldo Cipullo, the designer at Cartier New York at that time, it was known as the Nail Bracelet. Based on the same approach of seeking beauty whenever it may lie, turning functional objects into precious ones, this bracelet appeared even more provocative and transgressive than its predecessor. Like the Love bracelet, the gold Nail bracelet was unisex, and came in two sizes. This creation returned in 2012, when its pure lines earned it the name Juste un Clou.

Panthère

When it was launched in 1983, the Panthère de Cartier watch reinvented the concept of a jewellery watch. This best-selling watch was embraced by the fun-loving 80s, proving particularly popular with the art scene. Above and beyond its design, this watch slinks onto the skin in a rippling celebration of triumphant and carefree femininity. A state of mind embodied by the vibrant and sophisticated icons of the 80s and continued today by a whole new generation of bold and impeccably stylish women.

Ballon Bleu

The Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch was created in 2007. Worn by both men and women alike, who appreciate its personality and comfort when worn, this creation has rapidly become a resounding success and a Cartier icon. Whether Fine Watchmaking models or jewellery versions, Ballon Bleu has inspired Cartier to create many different variants on metal bracelets or leather straps.

About Cartier

A reference in the world of luxury, Cartier, whose name is synonymous with open-mindedness and curiosity, stands out with its creations and reveals beauty wherever it may be found. Jewellery, fine jewellery, watchmaking and fragrances, leather goods and accessories: Cartier’s creations symbolize the convergence between exceptional craftsmanship and a timeless signature. Today, the Maison has a worldwide presence through its 265 boutiques.

About Cartier Collection

In the 1970s, Cartier began to reassemble objects from its own production: jewelry, watches, clocks and other precious accessories were collected for conservation, which lead to the foundation of the Cartier Collection in 1983.
Today, the Cartier Collection comprises items dating from as early as the 1860s till as late as the 1990s. These pieces act as material records of Cartier’s over 170-year of style and creativity but also provide a wider historical account of the evolutions within the decorative arts and within society since the end of the nineteenth century.

With almost 1,600 pieces and still growing, the Cartier Collection has sparked the attention of museums worldwide. Since its first major exhibition in 1989 at the Petit Palais in Paris, the Cartier Collection has shown selections of its pieces at some of the world’s most renowned institutions, amongst them the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1997), the British Museum in London (1998), the Kremlin Museums in Moscow (2007), the Palace Museum inside the Forbidden City in Beijing (2009 and 2019), the Grand Palais in Paris (2013-14) and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra (2018).

Artist Ben Turnbull presents American History Remix; a retrospective exhibition voyaging through 150 years of America’s tumultuous past. With an unashamedly parodic lens, American History Remix is a boldly candid exploration of the nation’s most defining moments, from the birth of the ‘American Frontier’, via the Kennedy assassinations to the darker days of gun culture and the inauguration of Donald Trump.

American History Remix subverts the childhood innocence of comics, action figures, colourful collages and school paraphernalia to reimagine U.S history through the eyes of a troubled child. In his signature ‘Angry Pop’ style Turnbull offers alternative theories using a variety of Americana childhood products, manipulating these to expose the engulfing web of America’s political mayhem.

Bringing together a body of work created over 15 years, including never-before-seen pieces, American History RemiX is a shocking encounter with uncomfortable truths about the USA.

Ben Turnbull said: “American History RemiX at the Saatchi Gallery is the culmination of my ongoing examination of American history that continues to fascinate and surprise the world. The works presented here are 15 years in the making, and I urge all to look for the hidden meanings and truths within these pieces. Over the last few years, I’ve worked to deliver both sides of the narrative, that is the insider and outsider’s perspective, as it’s vital we consider both sides of the coin when weighing up global histories”.

American History Remix follows Turnbull’s successful Manifest Decimation exhibition of 2019 in an age of healing for America, as the nation begins to assess, enact new movements and repair the damage of recent years. Challenging the way we perceive history, this exhibition continues Turnbull’s ongoing exploration of the struggles that define one of the most powerful countries in the world.

About Ben Turnbull

Ben Turnbull is a contemporary pop artist who lives and works in London. Born in London in 1974, Turnbull has been fascinated by American pop culture and comic books since his early youth. Americana is central to his art; working with found objects, including vintage comic books and toys, he creates challenging and provocative discourses on American politics and social ideologies. Having previously worked as a craftsman on the set of film productions, Turnbull’s works are painstakingly made with meticulous detail and precision.

Turnbull has exhibited in a number of solo exhibitions, including his breakthrough show ‘Us Vs Them’ at the Lazarides Gallery in 2007 after his inclusion in the infamous ‘Santa’s Ghetto’ show on Oxford St in 2006. He was also offered a prestigious solo representation at Volta NY in 2010 after a series of his London shows brought attention to gun crime and teenage angst. In 2011 Turnbull exhibited ‘Supermen – An Exhibition of Heroes’ at Eleven Fine Art, which presented a series of comic book collage portraits of the firefighters who gave their lives during the 9/11 attacks. Turnbull has also exhibited in a variety of international group shows, including 2012’s ‘We Could Be Heroes: The Mythology of Monsters and Heroes in Contemporary Art’ in Utah, USA and was invited to exhibit a retrospective of his large scale works at The Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts the same year.

Dominic Beattie, Will Cruickshank, Alice Wilson, Laura White, Neil Zakiewicz

Mass refers to the physicality and largeness of things or a clustering of materials. Buildings are considered to have mass in the cityscape and mass products pump from factories to the population masses. The five artists in this exhibition enjoy the mass of materials, to produce urban and modern art forms.

In the religious sense of the word, a Mass is the transformation of worldly matter into the divine. Taking ordinary materials, such as builders merchant’s timber, MDF, aerosol paint, rubber, and through a reconfiguration, the artists aspire beyond ordinary standards of scale, towards the cosmic realm. Sculptures that reach for the sky and paintings allude to heavenly bodies and stained glass windows.

The 10th edition of Carmignac Photojournalism Award is dedicated to the Amazon and the issues related to its deforestation. Chaired by Yolanda Kakabadse, Minister of the Environment of Ecuador between 1988 and 2000 and President of WWF from 2010 to 2017, the jury met in November 2019 and awarded Tommaso Protti. This exhibition is curated by Simon Baker and Laurie Hurwitz (Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris).

From January to July 2019, Italian photojournalist Tommaso Protti, accompanied by British journalist Sam Cowie, travelled thousands of miles across the Brazilian Amazon to create this reportage. From the eastern region of Maranhão to the western region of Rondônia, through the states of Pará and Amazonas, they portrayed life in modern day Brazilian Amazon, where social and humanitarian crises overlap with the ongoing destruction of the rainforest.

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The Amazon accounts for half of the remaining tropical forests on the planet and is home to 70% of the world’s biodiversity, but the development of economic activities in the region mean that this ecosystem is under more threat than ever before. Photographer Tommaso Protti recounts the retreating of the region and the damage inflicted by its deforestation, with scenes of illegal gold mines gnawing voraciously into the subsoil, jungle cemeteries where stranded trees form tombstone crosses, abject killings to steal a few acres of land or a pinch of drugs, unhealthy favelas burned by devastating fires, scenes of drunkenness, prostitution or cocaine-laced insanity in the heat of these tropical mean streets.

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Tommaso Protti has taken his keen-eyed camera into the deepest corners of Amazonia to illustrate uncompromising testimonies of its inhabitants: a forester crying over a fallen tree; a gold digger, his fingers gnawed away by his fever for the metal; a little girl lost after her homeland has been flooded by a hydro-electric dam; a drug dealer arrested in the middle of an interview. All subjects share the same feelings: saudade for the past, distress about the present and despair for the future. Protti’s keen-edged camera captures the reality of the Amazon that has already been wiped out in the last 50 years, with up to 30% more expected to be lost by 2050.

The photographs raise awareness of the local, and global, degradation currently taking place in the Amazon due to climate change and human activity, while offering a glimpse into the modern everyday life of one of the world’s most extraordinary regions and its inhabitants.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive bilingual French-English catalogue co-published by Fondation Carmignac and Reliefs Editions, available for purchase at Saatchi Store, featuring photographs and committed text on the 7-month reportage in the Amazon.

About the Artist

Tommaso Protti (Italy, 1986)

Tommaso Protti lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil. He started his career as a photographer in 2011 after graduating in Political Science and International Relations. His photographs have been published in major titles including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, National Geographic, The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Independent, and Le Monde. His reportage ‘Amazônia’, supported by the Carmignac Photojournalism Award, won the ‘World Understanding Award’ of the 77th Picture Of the Year in March, 2020.

About the Carmignac Photojournalism Award

In 2009, while media and photojournalism faced an unprecedented crisis, Edouard Carmignac created the Carmignac Photojournalism Award to support photographers in the field. Directed by Emeric Glayse, it funds annually the production of an investigative photo reportage on human rights violations and geostrategic issues in the world. Selected by an international jury, the laureate receives a €50.000 grant, enabling them to carry out an in-depth research in the field, with logistical support from Fondation Carmignac. The latter presents a travelling exhibition and the publication of a monograph upon their return.

The 11th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award is dedicated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

About Fondation Carmignac

Created in 2000 under the initiative of Édouard Carmignac, Fondation Carmignac is a corporate foundation with an art collection of about 300 works, which also funds the Carmignac Photojournalism Award. The Collection, presented and shared inside the company’s offices, celebrates American art from the 1960s to the 1980s, with iconic works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat, to 20th and 21st century masterpieces by Gerhard Richter, Willem de Kooning, Martial Raysse, Miquel Barceló or Ed Ruscha, and contemporary art including works by Zhang Huan and El Anatsui. In 2018, the Fondation opened a public site in Porquerolles, a Mediterranean island, where visitors can discover contemporary artworks of the Carmignac collection in the beautiful surroundings of a national park, along with a sculpture garden and temporary exhibitions every year. The island is not the result of a random decision: “As in all legends or initiatory journeys, the voyage to the island is always a dual crossing -both physical and psychological. It is about crossing over to the other side,” states the Director of the foundation, Charles Carmignac.

#PrixCarmignacAmazonia

Antisocial Isolation is a group exhibition featuring artworks by some of the most exciting emerging artists of today. Curated by Delphian Gallery founders Benjamin Murphy and Nick JS Thompson, the works in the exhibition deliberate on the future and respond to the current Covid-19 pandemic, offering unique perspectives and fresh contexts to aid an understanding of our surroundings.

About Benjamin Murphy (b. 1988)

Hailing from West Yorkshire, artist and writer Benjamin Murphy now lives and works in London. His artworks often depict themes inspired by classical literature and poetry to initiate non-linear perspectives of storytelling. His current work utilises charcoal to explore themes of chaos, fragility, and memory.

Alongside being an artist, Murphy also lectures at the University of the Arts London and writes on contemporary art for a number of publications.

About Nick JS Thompson (b.1988)

Born in 1988, Thompson spent his formative years documenting BMX and its associated subcultures, before widening his field of vision to explore and document communities, and the marks that they leave upon the spaces they inhabit.

There is a stillness to much of Thompson’s imagery, that draws our gaze to the often overlooked beauty in quotidian space. Social commentary is a consistent presence in his images, but didacticism gives way to subtlety and nuance. The viewer is confronted with reality, and is given the space to interpret this for themselves.

About Delphian Gallery

Delphian Gallery was launched in 2017 by artists Benjamin Murphy and Nick JS Thompson. Primarily London based, they aim to discover and then present the most captivating and challenging work by early-career contemporary artists.

Since their genesis, Benjamin and Nick have curated exhibitions in multiple countries, launched a popular arts podcast, and recently published their first book Navigating the Art World: Professional Practice for the Early Career Artist.
https://delphiangallery.com/>

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Philip Colbert’s Lobsteropolis is the largest UK survey to date of Colbert’s artistic universe, inviting viewers to engage digitally and in situ with the works.

A one-way system will guide visitors through the exhibition, picking a route through art which interrogates mass consumerism and references contemporary culture and history. Colbert has created a global following for his cartoon lobster persona and his masterful hyper-pop history paintings. His work explores the patterns of contemporary digital culture and its relationship to a deeper historical dialogue. Colbert once said, “I became an artist when I became a Lobster”.

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Under lockdown, Colbert’s shrunken horizons and own social media echo chamber prompted him to conceptualise Lobsteropolis as his response to the pandemic. He believes that seeing art in situ is an important part of society and a culture in which people are free to do things for themselves. In his brash, splashy world of contemporary culture, Colbert explains the reasoning for his cartoon-like vision. “The lobster is my materialistic alter-ego.

Colbert points out that many of the symbolic references of art history have become as iconic in themselves as Coca Cola or Google; Warhol’s work is easily as recognisable as McDonald’s sign or the apple symbol. As Colbert’s work addresses the commercial realities of hyper consumption – and what is considered an ‘uploadable’ social media experience – Colbert’s ‘Lobsteropia’ is a continued journey of the lobster as art protagonist. Philip Colbert’s works are exuberant attempts to update the practice of collage for the internet age. His paintings challenge and toy with the viewer’s cultural vocabulary. He superimposes commonplace, banal objects onto painted faces and merges portraiture with popular culture in a Magritte-like fashion. Emojis, computer windows, classical architecture, Lichtenstein spots, comic book sound effects, cactus plants and pixelated mouse cursors all have a place in Colbert’s world.

About Unit London

Since the brand’s inception in 2013, Unit London has established a global artistic platform for the world’s most distinctive emerging talent. In an often opaque and impenetrable art world, Unit London seeks to identify, cultivate and expose works of art on a purely meritocratic basis. The gallery has successfully launched and advanced the careers of numerous important contemporary artists and remains a bastion of equity, innovation and sustainability.

About Philip Colbert

Born in Scotland and living and working in London, Colbert has created a global following for his cartoon lobster persona and his hyper pop history paintings. “I became an artist when I became a Lobster” says Colbert. Graduating with an MA in Philosophy from St. Andrews University, Colbert’s work has received international acclaim in museums and galleries worldwide for his energetic new approach to painting and pop theory. Following on from early Pop painters such as Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist. Colbert’s paintings cross high art themes from old master paintings and contemporary art theory with everyday symbols of mass contemporary culture, all narrated through the eyes of Colbert’s cartoon Lobster alter ego. Colbert’s seminal NEW PAINTINGS & HUNT PAINTINGS showed at Saatchi Gallery in 2017 & 2018 marking his transition into epic Large scale works on canvas.

Special thanks to Esther Fox, researcher on the D4D project as part of her role as Head of the Accentuate Programme, Praminda Caleb-Solly, Professor for Assistive Robotics and Intelligent Health Technologies at the Bristol Robotics Lab, and Martin Levinson, Professor of Cultural Identities at Bath Spa University.

Saatchi Gallery is pleased to present JR: Chronicles – the largest solo museum exhibition to date of the internationally recognised French artist JR, featuring some of his most iconic projects from the past fifteen years. Curated by Sharon Matt Atkins and Drew Sawyer from the Brooklyn Museum, JR: Chronicles traces JR’s career from his early documentation of graffiti artists as a teenager in Paris to his large-scale architectural interventions in cities worldwide and recent digitally collaged murals that create collective portraits of diverse communities.

Saatchi Gallery is delighted to showcase JR: Chronicles featuring recent projects, including The Secret of the Great Pyramid (2019), JR’s large-scale collaborative piece created in occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Louvre Pyramid, and Tehachapi (2019) which follows JR’s experiences with inmates of a maximum-security prison in California.

“JR: Chronicles takes visitors on a global journey through the intimate storytelling of one of today’s most influential contemporary artists. The exhibition opens in London during a key moment in time in which social engagement and the power of communities have taken centre-stage in London and around the world.”, Laura Uccello, Partnerships Director

JR is a TED Prize winner, Oscar nominated filmmaker, and one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2018. He has received critical acclaim for his global art projects that bring together diverse groups of participants and create dialogue around critical social issues, from women’s rights to immigration, to gun control. JR spotlights communities across the world by photographing individual members of those communities and then wheat pasting their images -sometimes illegally- on a monumental scale usually reserved for advertisements featuring models, celebrities, and politicians. These installations are deliberately placed in public spaces near or within the communities with whom JR has partnered, allowing the individuals portrayed to remain at the centre of the discussions prompted by the artist’s work.

The first section of the exhibition traces JR’s artistic evolution, focusing on his commitment to community, collaboration, and civic discourse. Early photographic projects are featured, including Expo 2 Rue (2001-4), where he documented and pasted photocopies of his community of graffiti artists in action, using the streets as an open gallery. Portrait of a Generation (2004-6) features portraits of young people from Les Bosquets, a housing project in the Parisian suburb of Montfermeil that became a central location for countrywide riots in 2005 amid rising socioeconomic and police tensions. JR and his friend Ladj Ly, a filmmaker and resident of Les Bosquets, worked with the community to capture portraits and then wheat pasted the images both in Montfermeil and throughout Paris. By bringing the faces of young people from the projects to prominence, JR and his collaborators brought attention to the misrepresentation of these individuals in the media, thereby also challenging the public’s assumptions and biases.

JR expanded his practice and began to travel globally in the mid-2000s. In 2005, he travelled to Israel and Palestine and began a public art project similar to Portrait of a Generation. Face 2 Face (2007) featured giant portrait diptychs of Israelis and Palestinians pasted on either side of the separation wall and in several surrounding towns. The portraits were of pairs of people -one Israeli and one Palestinian- who lived on opposite sides of the wall yet held the same job: teachers, doctors, athletes, artists, and religious leaders; they were displayed side by side, without any signifiers indicating which were Israeli and which were Palestinian. At the time, it was considered the largest illegal photography exhibition ever made in Israel, spanning over eight cities including Bethlehem, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. Photographs, videos, and ephemera from the project will be on view.

Other international projects on display include Women Are Heroes (2008-9), which honours the contributions of women to public life by installing large-scale images of their eyes and faces in their own communities, and Inside Out (2011-ongoing), a global participatory art project that enables individuals to take and share their own portraits. The exhibition also features The Wrinkles of the City (2008-15), a multicity project celebrating the oldest members of society and the histories they can tell, installed in cities including Havana and Los Angeles; the film Faces Places (2017), co-directed with French filmmaker Agnès Varda, which follows the two artists as they travel around rural France creating portraits to highlight worker solidarity; and The Gun Chronicles: A Story of America (2018), a video mural that visualises the complex spectrum of views on guns in the United States, including those of gun collectors, hunters, law enforcement officials, shooting victims, emergency room teams that treat victims of mass shootings, and lobbyists for the gun industry.

Through his powerful storytelling abilities, collaboration with and commitment to community, and willingness to question power structures and institutions, JR has re-invented the medium of photography in the twenty-first century. Showcasing photographs, films, and documentation of the artist’s installations, this major exhibition demonstrates how and why JR’s practice has managed to both capture the imagination of audiences worldwide and expand the meaning of public art through participatory projects that give visibility and agency to a broad spectrum of people.

ABOUT JR

Born in Paris in 1983 to Eastern European and Tunisian immigrant parents, JR began his career as a graffiti artist. After finding a camera in the Paris Metro in 2001, he began documenting his friends in the act of graffitiing and soon started pasting the photographs on building facades throughout urban centres.

JR was awarded the TED Prize in 2011, which inspired Inside Out: The People’s Art Project, an international participatory art project that encourages people worldwide to have their picture taken and pasted in public spaces in an effort to share stories, experiences, and beliefs. In 2013, his film based on Inside Out premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The project also inspired JR’s installation covering the dome, cupola, and floor of the Pantheon, in Paris in 2014. Inside Out has continued to grow with mobile photo studios operating in the streets of New York, Amsterdam, London and Paris. As of July 2019, over 400,000 people from more than 141 countries had participated.

JR received his first solo museum exhibitions in 2013 at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, followed by presentations at Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, in 2014 and the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Foundation, in 2015. Commissioned by the Louvre in 2016, a photo-installation created by JR camouflaged the museum’s famous I.M. Pei-designed pyramid with a precise scan of the Pavillon Sully, which is located behind it. Also in 2016, the artist worked with the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to cover the streets with large-scale photo- installations of athletes in motion; the Centre Pompidou, Paris, to create an exhibition and workshop to help children discover photography; and the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, where he collaborated with the Brazilian artist duo OSGEMEOS on the Lasco Project, a permanent installation on display in the underground chambers of the museum. In 2018, JR received his first Oscar nomination after partnering with pioneering filmmaker Agnès Varda to create the documentary Faces Places. JR’s first major museum exhibition, MOMENTUM. la mécanique de l’épreuve, took place at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, in 2018. In February 2019, JR returned to the Louvre for another project, this time to “reveal” the pyramid on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. In May 2019, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art unveiled The Chronicles of San Francisco, an animated mural, made of a large LED screen, that features more than 1,200 people from around the city. JR participated in the National Gallery of Victoria Triennial held in December 2020, where he completed the multi-part artwork Homily to Country. The installation comprises of an envisaged open-air chapel with a series of large format stained-glass windows depicting natural elements of the Darling River and transposed portraits of members of its surrounding community, in order to draw global attention to both the environmental and human impact of the Australian river system’s ecological decline.

ABOUT ART EXPLORA

Aware that culture has the power to initiate dialogue, bring people together and make us stronger, French entrepreneur and patron Frédéric Jousset created Art Explora in November 2019, a philanthropic foundation with an international, roving and digital ambition. Renewing the promise of making culture more accessible, Art Explora aims to bridge the cultural divide, notably by broadcasting digital content and engaging in innovative projects available to all and thereby creating new meetings between works and a broad and diverse audience, all the while supporting creation, cultural actors and their initiatives.

School Visits & Community Groups: I +44(0)20 7811 3087

SAFETY MEASURES

Saatchi Gallery is committed to playing our part in encouraging the art world to reopen by supporting artists and exhibitions.

The health & safety of visitors and staff remains our priority. Saatchi Gallery will be following government advice on health & safety measures including:
– Social distancing throughout our building
– Operating a one-way navigation throughout our spaces
– Wearing of face coverings by staff and visitors
– Multiple hand sanitisation stations

With Major Support from Art Explora

Saatchi Gallery is delighted to announce that it has reopened to the public on Thursday September 3rd, 2020 with ‘London Grads Now.’. This thought-provoking exhibition showcases works by graduating students from London’s leading fine art schools including; Royal College of Art, UCL: Slade School of Art, Goldsmiths: University of London, UAL: Chelsea College of Arts, UAL: Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL: Camberwell College of Arts and UAL: Central Saint Martins.

Following the unprecedented cancellation of graduation shows across London due to COVID-19 restrictions, Saatchi Gallery with the generous support of Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, invited students and lecturers to organise an exhibition that would enable graduating students to showcase their works safely within international-quality gallery spaces. Through an incredibly collaborative effort London Grads Now. will bring together under one exhibition over 150 graduating artists and more than 200 works. Saatchi Gallery, which transitioned to a charitable organisation in 2019 and relies upon private donations and public support, has a strong commitment to expanding and improving the knowledge and passion for the arts, particularly contemporary art. London Grads Now. is a key part of that ongoing commitment.

MFA graduate and curator of the selected works from UCL: Slade School of Art, Victoria Cantons, refers to her artists as “fresh graduates who provide a snapshot of the exciting ideas, explorations and discussions that are occurring in art today. The work is important as a reflection of the experience we’re going through now.”

The exhibition was curated by Mandy Franca (curator of selected works from Royal College of Art), Victoria Cantons (curator of selected works from UCL: Slade School of Art), Januario Jano (curator of selected works from Goldsmiths, University of London), Juan Bolivar (curator of selected works from UAL: Chelsea College of Arts, UAL: Wimbledon College of Arts and UAL: Camberwell College of Arts), and Mazzy-Mae Green & Greta Voeller (curators of selected works from UAL: Central Saint Martins). Graphic design graduates from UAL: Central Saint Martins, Abbie Lilley and Lili Phillips designed all promotional materials of London Grads Now.

Juan Bolivar, painting lecturer and curator for the selection of works from UAL: Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon, commented “This exhibition of London-wide MA graduates is an incredible opportunity to celebrate the work of a new generation of artists and recognise the resilience of the human spirit. Selecting from a rich variety and diversity of MA graduates practices that have been nurtured during their time at CCW (Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon), one can feel reassured that in this glimpse of voices we have a future. This is a London art scene that is alive and kicking.”

Saatchi Gallery has been committed to supporting emerging British artists for over 35 years, and now more than ever, we are pleased to support emerging artists during these uncertain times. We have provided seven gallery spaces from September 3rd through October 11th, 2020 to our participating schools – with each gallery space entirely curated by students and lecturers.

Following the success of online graduation showcases for our participating schools, we believe London Grads Now. will enable audiences to discover new artists. The health & safety of visitors and staff is our priority. Saatchi Gallery will be following government advice on health & safety measures including:

Social distancing throughout our building

Operating a one-way navigation throughout our spaces

Wearing of face coverings by staff and visitors

Multiple hand sanitisation stations

COVID-19:

Saatchi Gallery is committed to playing our part in encouraging the art world to reopen by supporting artists and exhibitions. The health and safety of everyone involved remains our top priority. All visitors, including Members, need to book a timed ticket online before visiting. There are one-way routes around the gallery, guiding visitors through the exhibition. Each route offers access to toilets, our Saatchi Store and Restaurant. All visitors are required to wear face coverings whilst inside our galleries, apart from those who are exempt. If you or anyone you live with displays symptoms associated with Covid-19, or if you’ve recently been in contact with someone who has Covid-19 please stay at home and delay your trip until it is safe to visit the Gallery. All of our staff have been given comprehensive Covid-19 specific training.

About Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. The only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the world, it offers postgraduate degrees in art and design to students from over 60 countries. Notable alumni from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries include the sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, painters Frank Auerbach, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Sir Peter Blake and Charles Tunnicliffe, artists Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin and R. B. Kitaj, fashion designers Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes, industrial designers James Dyson and David Mellor, film directors Tony and Ridley Scott, writer Travis Jeppesen, designers Thomas Heatherwick and Sir David Adjaye, prominent member of the suffragette movement Sylvia Pankhurst, the musician Ian Dury and the actor Alan Rickman.

About Slade School of Fine Art

The UCL Slade School of Fine Art is the art school of University College London and is based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1871, it has offered female students education on equal terms as men from the outset and has been ranked on numerous occasions as as the UK’s top art and design educational institution. Since its inception the Slade has been at the forefront of developments in the field of contemporary art and welcomed students from all over the world. The school is organised as a department of UCL’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Notable alumni include include Gwen John, Augustus John RA, Walter Sickert RA, Paul Nash, Sir Stanley Spencer CBE RA, Dora Carrington, Euan Uglow, Richard Hamilton CH, Derek Jarman, Martin Creed, Dame Paula Rego DBE RA, Mona Hatoum, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi CBE RA, Sir Antony Gormley OBE, Cecily Brown, Dame Rachel Whiteread DBE, Jenny Saville RA, Phyllida Barlow CBE RA, Tacita Dean CBE RA, Michael Armitage, Zhi Lin, Raymond Briggs CBE and Charli XCX.

About Goldsmiths

Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university in London, England, specialising in the arts, design, humanities, and social sciences. It is a constituent college of the University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths’ Technical and Recreative Institute by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in New Cross, London. Notable alumni include Damien Hurst, Antony Gormley, Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Gary Hume, and Sarah Lucas.

About Chelsea Collage of Arts

Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, UK, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, spatial design and textile design up to PhD level. Notable alumni include Frank Bowling, Helen Chadwick, Anish Kapoor, Steve McQueen, Haroon Mirza, Mariko Mori, Mike Nelson, Chris Ofili, James Richards, Mark Wallinger, and Saskia Olde Wolbers.

About Wimbledon College of Arts

Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London specialising in theatre, screen and performance art. It is located in Wimbledon and Merton Park, South West London. Wimbledon delivers specialist art, design and theatre courses ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate, as well as providing research supervision for students undertaking a research programme of study. Notable alumni include Hurvin Anderson (artist, Turner Prize nominee 2017), Raymond Briggs (author, famous for ‘The Snowman’), Tony Cragg (1988 Turner Prize winner), Peter Doig (1994 Turner Prize nominee), Anthea Hamilton (Turner Prize nominee), Lubaina Himid (Turner Prize winner 2017), Richard Hudson[dead link] (production designer, famous for Walt Disney’s The Lion King/Tony Award winner), Phoebe Philo (fashion designer, former director of Céline and Chloé).

About Camberwell College of Arts

Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, and is regarded as one of the UK’s foremost art and design institutions. It is located in Camberwell in South London, England, with two sites, located in Peckham Road and Wilson Road. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. The College has retained single degree options within Fine Art, offering specialist Bachelor of Arts courses in painting, sculpture, photography and drawing. The College also runs graduate and postgraduate courses in art conservation and fine art as well as design courses such as graphic design, illustration and 3D design. Notable alumni include Franko B (artist), Jeff Banks (graphic designer and TV presenter), Sue Clowes (fashion designer), Neisha Crosland (textile designer).

About Central Saint Martins

Across art, design and performance the students and staff of Central Saint Martins create ideas, materials and actions for a better future. Among our alumni shaping the world through creative action are Grace Wales Bonner, Matty Bovan, Michael Fassbender, Isamaya Ffrench, Antony Gormley, Craig Green, Isaac Julien, Jean Julien, Ib Kamara, Christopher Kane, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Morag Myerscough, Mowalola Ogunlesi, Sandy Powell, Laure Prouvost, Simone Rocha, and Yinka Shonibare.