Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union: New art from Russia<\/a>. The sponsor of Charles Saatchi\u2019s latest project is the Tsukanov family, through the Tsukanov Family Foundation (there are those who accuse its legal representative Igor Tsukanov, also founder of the Business Centre Investment Group, an investment group interested in \u201cthe most strategic sectors\u201d of Russia, for this read energy and petrol, of belonging to the Russian mafia). Both exhibitions add to the attention that Russian art (and Russian money) has triggered in the last few years. The latest round of this, the auctions at Christie\u2019s and Sotheby\u2019s, reached figures of 37 million pounds. So Saatchi couldn\u2019t do any less. And just in case he\u2019s gone that bit further. He\u2019s the one who has gathered the most material. <\/p>\nIt\u2019s impossible to dodge Saatchi\u2019s origins. His cradle is publicity, a profession that makes use of different media to promote an announcement of a commercial nature with the objective of attracting possible spectators, buyers. Even the director of the Saatchi Gallery doesn\u2019t seem to have forgotten. \u201cRussian oligarchs are spending a lot of money on the big names of Western art, but aren\u2019t buying Russian works\u201d, explained Rebecca Wilson to the Telegraph as a result of the double exhibition, though afterwards she wanted to erase any shadow of commercialism with \u201cthere aren\u2019t many galleries in Moscow where these artists can exhibit\u201d. The double proposal in the old Duke of York\u2019s palace, also, confirms Charles Saatchi\u2019s trademark, his approach to art, with large formats and impact as tools of seduction. The space at Sloane Square supports it: 14 rooms, white and austere, white cubes, clear zenithal light and natural wood floors, that accentuate the pieces, making them even more desirable and treasured. <\/p>\n
But even though the titles chosen are a lot like slogans, \u2018Breaking the ice\u2019 is a long way from \u2018Labour isn\u2019t working\u2019, the ingenious phrase that Saatchi&Saatchi invented for the Conservative Party for the 1979 elections. Not even \u2018Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union\u2019, a play on words based on what Joseph Stalin said in 1935 (“Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union\u201d) has the same draw. It seems as if the super-collector, the advertising-man, is running out of fuel. Maybe it\u2019s because marketing is dead, as the current CEO of Saatchi&Saatchi Kevin Roberts says, as it seems that his latest book, the recently published \u2018Babble\u2019, hasn\u2019t raised the curiosity of the previous ones. Perhaps there\u2019s not been enough time (it only saw the light of day on 5 March), but it\u2019s not that easy to find any reviews of it on Google. There are more than 8.000 about \u2018My name is Saatchi\u2019 and \u2018I am an artoholic\u2019, and 190.000 about \u2018Be the worst you can be\u2019, a work that has sold more than 20.000 copies according to The Guardian Book Shop. However, Amazon Espa\u00f1a still offers the opportunity of being the first to comment on \u2018Babble\u2019. It\u2019s possibly because of this, because Saatchi is no longer as sensational as in during Sensations, because the YBA are pass\u00e9 or members of Royal Academy, or just because at times I can\u2019t be bothered to search for a conspiracy theory behind everything, I decided to look with fewer reservations. As the journalist Laura Cumming, from \u201cThe Observer\u201d, said, who decided in her article about the exhibitions to grant \u201call credit to Saatchi for bringing this work before a British public, and for raising its profile \u2013 inevitably \u2013 on the market\u201d. In the end it\u2019s the first time that such an extensive exhibition about Russian art has taken place. As there is with Saatchi, a certain desire to democratize and demystify. Why these pieces and not others? Why not? All curators select. Saatchi is, or was, attributed with the power to launch careers. But so does Robin Klassnik, the director of Matt\u2019s Gallery, “a non-commercial gallery “, as he himself usually points out.<\/p>\n
The tank full of petrol, the piece 20:50 by Richard Wilson, on the lower floor of the Saatchi Gallery was produced by Matt\u2019s Gallery in 1987. (Thanks for that bit of information Antonio.) It\u2019s just, if you start looking for connections, you will find them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2014 Why show Russian artists, these Russian artists and why now? What was going on in Russia in the seventies and eighties? It\u2019s just that when things seem so obvious,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1286,"featured_media":7577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6783],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\u2014 Why show Russian artists, these Russian artists and why now? What was going on in Russia in the seventies and eighties? It\u2019s just that when things seem so obvious, I get a bit suspicious.<\/p>\n