Even if the title of this exhibition “Champagne Life” doesn’t refer directly to this drink, the Saachi Gallery is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with an exhibition made exclusively of women’s art. As it will be soon the women’s day (8 march), hurry up to see it before it is closed!
“Champagne Life” is related to the work of JULIA WACHTEL, questioning the real life versus the golden life of celebrities with an inverted picture of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian (obviously inspired by Andy Warhol) pointed at by a blue Minnie… That’s typical from contemporary art to challenge the viewer. Would I say these two people are representative of my idea of celebrities? In its extreme, yes. Champagne for them seems a bad option. Minnie, as the iconic image of consumption, is here to question the real sense of life…with or without bubbles?!

This artist JULIA WACHTEL is not the one I would like to insist on (but you can discover what she has done via this link), as I have found some other really interesting talents at the Saatchi Gallery. Like this serbian artist JELENA BULAJIC, only 26 years old and quite astonishing! She has painted large-scale portraits that subjugated me by their realism and strength. Judge for yourself…

Here is the close-up of the face of an old lady. This is extraordinary how JELENA BULAJIC is able to paint a face that is so realistic and accurate. She has minutely detailed all the wrinkles and skin imperfections. I first shot a picture of the eyes because I think this is what stunned me the most: they are deeply watching you and you feel trapped, unable to escape. Here is the whole painting (320x237cm!)…
I also discovered other similar paintings… First a focus on other eyes. Look how powerful they are!

See the large-sized painting now (same dimensions as before:320x237cm)…
I was really moved by these paintings. I think I will remember these for a long time…

Let’s look at another artist, SIGRID HOLMWOOD, whose work I have found to be absolutely a-ma-zing. These flashy colours, these lines, the subject of the painting reminded me of the great painter Vincent Van Gogh…With this first painting I am showing you, I can’t help but think of the Potatoes Eater from Van Gogh, cleverly revisited by SIGRID HOLMWOOD, with a magnificent use of colours and a simply drawn, but incredibly moving look between a mother and her kid. This art-work caught my eyes and I was hypnotised by its strength!

Another work of interest, that could be related to either Monet with “Impression, Sunrise” or Turner with “Fighting Temeraire”! I am a huge fan of these two paintings…

Another artist, another style, I appreciated: abstract art. For SUZANNE MCCLELLAND, datas can lead to a contemporary form of art: “Her paintings are born of this time, bringing the tradition of abstract painting to bear upon this universe of data and code”.
I would link its color palette to Braque’s cubism; in terms of dynamism I would rather compare it to my master, Zao Wou Ki; if we stick to her idea of combining datas and art, I have found another peer that would certainly agree on that concept (look at this article on Matthew Ritchie projects). Look at this result I particularly liked…

And look at this piece of art I thought was interesting, associating a mirror to a bird. The particularity of this work is that it changes all the time, depending on people moving in front of it. First you are aware of the movement inside the art-work, then you focus on the bird and discover the concept of the mirror included ! I like being surprised like that!

I also enjoyed the sculptures designed by the artist JULIA DAULT, with plexi-materials. These pieces of art are, as she states, “contorted and controlled by strings and boxing glove strapping, liable to run away at any moment”. The result is quite aesthetic, with bright colours and rounded shapes… I’d quite like that in my house !

The Saatchi Gallery is always full of surprises, and it is worth visiting the place regularly. Next exhibition will present “The Rolling Stones Exhibitionism”. As a huge fan of the music group, I will not resist of course… Cheers!