Greta Alfaro
Steven Allan
James Balmforth
Sarah Barker
Charlie Billingham
James Capper
Amir Chasson
Nathan Cash Davidson
Nicholas Deshayes
Amanda Doran
Alejandro Guijarro
Dominic from Luton
Wendy Mayers
Natasha Peel
Guy Rusha
Rafal Zawistowski
Tereza Zelenkova
British art today. The exhibition includes sculptural forms that owe a debt to American minimalism, paintings that mine British caricature from the 18th century, the iconography of earthly power. With works by 17 young artists based in the UK. The work of this new generation of artists offers an arresting insight into the nature of Britain today.
n 26 April 2013, the Saatchi Gallery will launch a new programme of
exhibitions which will continue the Gallery’s 25-year-long support of emerging
artists and its drive to make contemporary art as widely available as possible to a
British and international audience.
An entire floor of the Gallery in the King’s Road will be devoted to exhibiting
artists in the early stages of their careers. Throughout the year the exhibitions
will reflect the Gallery’s unique ability to respond quickly to some of the most
exciting work being made by artists working in the UK.
This new programme of exhibitions will enable emerging artists, many of them recent
graduates, to see their work displayed in a museum environment, and it will also
give visitors to the Saatchi Gallery the chance to discover new artists of
particular merit and promise.
The first in this series of exhibitions is New Order: British Art Today, featuring
17 young artists based in the UK. The work of this new generation of artists offers
an arresting insight into the nature of Britain today: somewhat nebulous in its
identity, somewhat uncertain of itself, recent spikes of national cohesion – the
2011 royal wedding, the 2012 Olympics – are blasts of pageantry, quickly silenced,
sometimes soured. The symbols of national identity seem more and more inarticulate
and dislocated from the experience of actually living here.
The artists are not an evidently coherent group, but if there is a collective spirit
in many of the works in the exhibition, it’s in their interest in addressing the
vast abundance of imagery which we are all increasingly surrounded by in the 21st
century. As the series of exhibitions continues, a clearer understanding may emerge
of a distinct new direction.
The exhibition includes sculptural forms that owe a debt to American minimalism,
paintings that mine British caricature from the 18th century, the iconography of
earthly power (kings and politicians), everyday elements from ordinary life
(tattoos, underpants, banana skins), industrial materials as well as traditional oil
paint and gouache.
Artists in the exhibition:
Greta Alfaro
Steven Allan
James Balmforth
Sarah Barker
Charlie Billingham
James Capper
Amir Chasson
Nathan Cash Davidson
Nicholas DeshayesAmanda Doran
Alejandro Guijarro
Dominic from Luton
Wendy Mayers
Natasha Peel
Guy Rusha
Rafal Zawistowski
Tereza Zelenkova
Press preview: Thursday 25 th April 10.00am – 2.00pm
New Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York's HQ King's Road SW3 4SQ, London
Hours: 10am-6pm, 7 days a week, last entry 5:30pm
Free Admission