Cathy's Art Diary

Clever and varied exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery looking at art inspired by the sun and the moon. The work was arranged by time of day and mixed old and new art from around the world as well as discussing folk law related to the time. It was a lot to do in one show which was well laid out with clear commentaries. There were witty touches like including a large photograph of Noel Coward on a beach for the zenith ie midday section. Think about it. Stand out works of course included Luke Jerram's "Helios" which I last saw at the Old Royal Naval College and it's always fascinating to see it in different spaces. I loved an Evelyn Dunbar of seven figures representing the days of the week at different times particularly as this was the second time I'd seen work by her in a week. I liked the inclusion of costumes from the Royal Opera and Ballet as well as Margo Selby and Helen Chadwick's woven and sound installation referencing the Navajo women weavers who c...

Confused exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of work by contemporary artists from the Asian diaspora. The sho w featured 13 artists in quite a small space but didn't seem to establish a dialogue between the works. There was a mix of paintings, sculpture, ceramics and textile work. I loved Lian Zhang's painting "In the Wake of Her Echo" which plays with the idea of reflections and Hoa Dung Clerget's small sculptures decorated using gel nail polish pointing to the nail art subculture of immigrant women. Closed 30 November 2025

Moving exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery from Vogue Ukraine and PhotoVogue to support and promote Ukrainian photographers. These were poignant images, some showing the effects of war, but others showing life going on despite the conflict. My favourite was this photo by Julie Poly called "Scrolling Through Violence" of a young person looking at scenes of war on their phone which reflects on their face. It says so much about the effects of war   I also liked Tania Shcheglova\Synchrodogs photograph of chairs on a beach which strangely looked like a 1950s textile design and Daniil Kotlair's "Mother of Georgia" looking up at the back of a monumental statue. Closed 16 November 2025

Striking exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of new work by Kat Kristof. I loved these big, bold paintings of fragmented and broken figures. Painted in blocks of colour you wonder if they are deconstructing or reconstructing. They looked fabulous in the big white space and have an architectural feel. Although they had a look of posters, up close you could see the brushstrokes and a painterly hand. Closed 16 November 2025

Innovative exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery highlighting the shortlisted finalists in the inaugural Artist of the Future Prize. This first edition of the prize showcases artists who push the boundaries of digital art and the winner will be announced on 21 November. The show included work by 10 artists on large screens with earphones provided for those with sound. I found this format hard to engage with and didn't have time to watch any of them from beginning to end but some of them grabbed me with their beautiful imagery. I liked Lenar Singatullov's "Circle Dance" an abstract work involving a custom algorithm which turns the colours of flags into moving figures and James David Freeman's "In the Realm of Emptiness", scenes of empty London streets taken during the pandemic. My favourite was Dominic Harris's ball of flowers with butterflies which reacted to you walking past it. I had seen his work before at the Halcyon Gallery and loved it. ...

Interesting exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery marking 40 years of the groundbreaking gallery. I liked the fact that the show blended iconic pieces which have been shown at the gallery over the years alongside new works by their established artists and work by new artists. Spread over two floors this was quite a mix of work some of which I liked but some I didn't get. I discovered a lot of artists who were new to me such as Polly Morgan and her wall sculptures incorporating snake skin, John Squire's remarkable painting of a fragmented face and Chino Moya's wonderful small digital pictures set in settings reminiscent of the Renaissance in which the figures gently moved. Classic pieces included Richard Wilson's "20:50", a room filled with recycle engine oil which messes with your mind. Evidently it has been shown in every iteration of the gallery. I liked the room bringing together two installations, Allan Kaprow's Yard, which presents a floor covered ...

Novel exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of a series of statements shown around the walls. The website describes these as “50 statements on paper on walls from the mind of why.” They were shown with no introduction other than an email provided sent with them to say each work should be printed on A4 paper and shown in any order. Having moaned about the lack of explanation in the previous show I actually really liked it in this one. Many of the statements were witty and engaging and I found myself laughing out loud as well as musing on their truth. It was a lovely palate cleanser! Closed 20 March 2025

Incomprehensible exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of a selection of contemporary works on the theme of a fragile world. Curated by Benjamin Murphy and Nick JS Thompson of Delphian Gallery, there was very little explanation of the theme or the works which had no labels. On the one hand it did get you to stop and look but with no guide to conceptual art it is too easy to dismiss it and move on. I did use the QR code given for more info but could only find a title and artists name but still no description or explanation. It seems to take a lot of effort to find out very little. That said I thought this installation was fun but in the spirit of the show I’m not going to tell you anything about it. Closes 19 March 2025  

Colourful exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of new work by Dominic Beattie. These were bright geometric abstracts sometimes layered in a collage style. I loved the precision of the work and the way the colours sang against each other. Interestingly I had spotted a piece by him I’d liked in the main show in the galley at the time on flowers in art and design in the section for early career artists and liked it. Closed 19 March 2025

Interesting exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery showcasing the work of four recent art graduates. The four artists Qinyao Dai, Hsin Hwang, Shayla Marshall and Jahnvi Singh, all look at identity, storytelling, and narrative. I wasn’t that taken with any of them. I think my favourite was Shayla Marshall who produced installations of familiar objects full of references to hair. I also like the juxtaposition of an inflated figure and the paintings of Jahnvi Singh. Closed 19 March 2025

Novel and beautiful exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery looking at flowers in art and design. The show was divided into nine clear sections covering broad themes and categories for which flowers have been used such as fashion, science and new artists. I loved the fact it started with a room on the history including a lovely Dutch still life and large reproduction of Botticelli’s “Primavera”. This really grounded the show and you could trace clear links back to these works in the contemporary art.   One section just consisted of a fabulous installation of dried flowers by Rebecca Louise Law which provided a quiet, grounding moment in a vibrant show. I liked the variety of art shown and particularly the inclusion of old and new designers from Sanderson fabrics to Vivienne Westwood. There was also a good balance of fine art and photography. Stand out pieces included this bouquet made of spoons by Ann Carrington and a pair of Converse trainers by Cristina Alcantara. There was ...

Weird exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of new work by Philip Colbert. I keep seeing Colbert’s work around London but have not quite grasped it yet. He uses an alter ego of a cartoon lobster and produces highly finished models (I hesitate to call them sculptures) of said lobster in various guises as well as grand paintings putting him in reimagined art historical contexts. In this show the context was historical battle scenes with the lobster fighting technology. I, of course, loved the nod to Uccello’s “Battle of Romano” but once that mental link had been made I’m not sure that took me any further. It was a nice touch to include some of his models in the square outside the gallery. It felt like they’d escaped and they always brighten up a space. Closed 19 January 2024  

Interesting exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of photographs in which Black subjects are depicted by Black photographers. The works come from the Wedge Collection, established by Dr. Kenneth Montague, Canada's largest privately owned collection committed to championing Black artists and dated from the 1990s until today. The show was gently themed starting with families and moving through identity and history. The overall impression was a sense of community. I was quite impressed by how many photographers I recognised from other exhibitions so rather than this being a forgotten aspect of photographic history it is becoming more mainstream, particularly in terms of exhibitions. Stand out pieces include this beautiful nude by Texas Isiah called “My Name Is My Name I”; Ayana V. Jackson’s series Dear Sarah, inspired by the story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, an African woman of Yoruba origin presented as a gift to Queen Victoria, where she represents her as a Victorian lady with the...

Stunning exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of work by American photographer Anastasia Samoylova. This Russian born photographer looks at America with a critical but loving eye. She often captures a strange almost abstract view of a subject. The show was gently themed with good explanations of her work particularly the slightly hard to grasp collages where she groups found images then photographs the composition to represent a landscape. I think my favourite photographs were those incorporating bill boards which fooled the eye and often looked like collage but were real. I also liked her pictures of water particularly in Florida which commented on climate change. Closes 20 January 2025  

Eclectic exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery showing work by the six finalists in this global award celebrating the power of emerging artists to inspire positive change. This year’s theme was “Tomorrowing: Visions of a Better Future” and I was impressed by the array of responses. My favourite was the UK winner, Lulu Harrison, a glass artist who collaborated with Thames Water to discover a way to incorporate shell powder of quagga mussels, that routinely block water pipes and cost millions of pounds to remove, into unique glass   as well as working with locally sourced river materials, including sands and waste wood ash. I loved the pieces but also responded to them as I grew up in Oxfordshire, near the Thames, where she is working. I also liked Wincy Kung, the Asia winner, and her ideas for a Bamboo Craft Festival, an imagined festival that would explore heritage and storytelling integrated with architecture, culture, and design. Closed 26 January 2025    

Beautiful exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in collaboration with Beers London of new work by Nigerian born Deborah Segun. These were smooth pastel coloured works, part figurative and part abstract, where bodies morphed into landscape. I loved their decorative quality. I liked how the artist talked about painting from a place of joy in the accompanying video as they certainly gave me a sense of calm. Closed 2 February 2025    

Strange exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in collaboration with Beers London of new work by Danish/African artist Jack Kabang. I’m afraid I found this work quite ugly. It seems quite repetitive and felt crudely, if expressively painted. The blurb says it “is meant to speak to inexpressible desires and primordial human emotions”. I’m not sure it speaks to mine or maybe I don’t have any. Closed 2 February 2025  

Interesting exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of work by four photographers and film makers exploring environmentally friendly techniques. I loved Scott Hunter’s “Darkroom Ecology” where he is growing plants in the darkroom residue and then harvesting them to reuse as non-toxic developers. I must admit I didn’t understand a lot of the technicalities of this show but I thought this looked beautiful. My favourite pieces were by    Almudena Romero who printed hands onto leaves. Again I don’t really understand how but the images reminded me of ethereal early photography. Closed 28 July 2024  

Strange exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery looking at fashion photography. I say strange as, although there were some beautiful and artistic images, I wasn’t always sure what they had to do with fashion. I think of fashion photography as either selling, making or recording clothes or a style but a number of these had no clothes in them. The show had four themes allure, fantasy, surrealism and realism, with each room being presented in a striking colour which set the images of well. Images which will stick with me include a classic for Marc Jacobs of Victoria Beckham in a bag, Scheltens and Abbenes abstract of tracksuits and   this stunning image by Solve Sundsbo for Gaultier of multiple images of one model in one picture. Closed 8 September 2024

Exquisite exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery showcasing the best of botanical art and photography. The Royal Horticultural Society awards medals to art which has been entered into their awards in the same was they award gardens and displays at the Chelsea Flower Show. I was mesmerised by the detail in the paintings and drawings which often make you feel you could touch the plant. Many show beautiful flowers but I find the more strange works most engaging such as this stage in a magnolia seed pod by Toni Dade. My favourite photographs were by Andrea Jones and looked at light effects in different gardens. One of a sunrise over a snow covered formal garden was beautiful. However I am going to have one of my usual moans. Please don’t use such reflective glass on works with steering overhead lighting. It was hard to see some of the images because of the reflections on them. Closed 28 July 2024