The Saatchi Gallery

I think the layout of the Saatchi Gallery encourages the viewer to look at the different pieces of art from different angles. The wide open spaces used for display really allow you to see all sides of the works on display, especially those that are three-dimensional. Examples of pieces that really needed to be looked at from different views are Juliana Cerqueira Leite's sculptures "Up" and "Down," Graham Hudson's "All my exes live in Tesco's" (which does but should not have an apostrophe between the o and the s in the title), and Tessa Farmer's "Swarm." All these pieces can be explored from every angle, which makes them just so much more interesting than if they had been stuck inside a glass case or roped off.

Leite's "Up" and "Down"

Mostly, I liked the sparse information given on the pieces in the gallery. I like that I was sort of able to interpret them however I felt. However, with some of the works, I did wish for just a little background. For example, without our guide's explanation of the "Up" and "Down" pieces, I never would have fully appreciated the process, and with those two, they seemed to be more about the process than the product. So in that case I was very glad I had the background. I think it's a thin line between too much information and the need for background, so in this case, I'm quite happy with the minimal explanations.

Certainly, I didn't personally enjoy everything in the collection, but I never expect to when I go to a museum or a gallery. This gallery, especially, is a little different because it represents the personal tastes of the patron. I do have to wonder what the heck is Mr. Saatchi really like, since his collection is so eclectic, but hey, it's his art so he can collect it however he wishes. On a personal level, there were some things that intrigued and fascinated me, like the "Swarm" piece by Farmer, some that I thought were nice ideas but I really did not want to look at, like Stephen Bishop's "Mountain Goat," some that I absolutely loved, like Richard Wilson's oil room, some that I actively didn't like, like the posters of spam mail, and some that I just really didn't understand at all, like the Spartacus Chetywnd's humanoid-ish sculptures. All in all, I think it does a pretty good job as a gallery, presenting pieces that at least provoke some sort of reaction out of most people.

Stephen Bishop, "Mountain Goat"

Graham Hudson's "All my exes live in Tesco's"

Dan Perfect, "Village"

Spartacus Chetywnd, "The Lizard" and "The Stick Insect"

My interpretation: Loch Ness monster meets KKK wacko on the left, and orange Stormtrooper meets platypus on the right. I really didn't know what to think of these.

Close-up of Farmer's "Swarm"

Wilson's oil room