Saatchi Gallery

I decided to visit the Saatchi Gallery as I was very interested in the work I had seen on their website. I was near the gallery and although it doesn't fit with my project I felt it could benefit my research by looking afield. The first room was filled with ants made out of sticks and skulls. I felt incredibly small as though an ant would feel and started to feel a bit uneasy stuck in the room. Nevertheless, it was one of my favourite pieces. I was taken back by how realistic they actually looked for a couple of sticks put together and the way that they had been placed on the wall must have been carefully thought out as they crowded towards the far corner of the room. Having read the information about the work I can understand why Rafael Gómezbarros has used the skull casts. 

 His intention was to make a statement about the millions of displaced people who constitute the invisible but pervasive mass of immigrants crossing the planet. Ants are usually associated with hard work and show complex social organizations that have acquired the capacity to take over national monuments. He has managed to put his ants onto historical buildings such as Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino – the haçienda where Simón Bolívar spent his final days – as well as Barranquilla’s customs building. 

I also saw the work of Richard Wilson where at first I had no idea of what I was meant to be seeing. It then hit me that it was not just a room but one filled with recycled oil. It was reflecting the ceiling and therefore meant that a lot of people where confused on what they saw at first but after the initial reactions many admired its natural beauty from something so dangerous.

Someone else who I felt had real meaning to their work was Ibrahim Mahama who makes enormous drapes by sewing together the sacks imported by the Ghana Cocoa Board and repurposed by charcoal sellers.

The sacks have the markings and traces of the traders’ names and locations and I love this because you can see where the bags were imported to as well as the purpose. The bags filled the entire room and once you stood back and looked it was quite dark and mysterious to see brown material bags the way they were presented. 

There were many other works in the gallery but these were my top three. I feel that they possess the most meaning and make you think a lot more than your first initial sight. However I do love some of the other works for example the works by Vincent Michea who's works were of a pop art style. He had made albulm covers and generally showed stills of people in a comic book like way. It was interesting to see such bright colours as well as a contrast to the rest of the gallery. I loved the way block colour was used to create a flat image but also a used dots combining processes.