The Triumph of the Ordinary

Less Sensation in Saatchi's New Show

I cannot help but be profoundly sceptical of anyone who so ostentatiously brands their new exhibition ‘The Triumph of Painting’. Saatchi’s ‘Sensation’ turned out to be everything the title promised, creating a national debate about Art for the first time in a century, but ‘The Triumph of Painting’? Surely that’s a phrase that begs to be shot down.

Still, I skipped into his exhibition with high hopes, hoping that on this occasion our most celebrated collector had thrown his Britart toys out of the pram and had opted for the time-honoured tradition of applying ordinary paint to equally ordinary canvas. Whilst Tracey Emin was off camping and Damien Hirst was indulging in a spot of fishing these six exhibited artists were working hard armed with only a paintbrush and a blank canvas.

We all know Saatchi loves to shock, but the only shocking element of the new exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery is how often it sticks to traditional artistic values. On arrival at the show you find yourself face to face with Peter Doig’s gentle watery sunlights and pine forests. Despite Doig’s tameness, I really found myself carried away by his mournful Canadian narratives. A positive start.

Martin Kippenberger’s paintings scream energetic rebellion, however in this particular exhibition they did feel a little cramped. His amusing self-portrait confirmed that men who drink too much beer shouldn’t pose in their undies. I may have seen Lord of the Rings too many times but the cavernous backdrops of Immendorf’s garish political pieces reminded me of Peter Jackson’s Mordor. I half expected to see Elijah Wood in one corner looking pained, scrambling up a volcano, clutching his blessed ring.

Hermann Nitsch’s splatterfest. comprised a series of huge canvasses vehemently attacked with red paint. Nitsch is a painter notorious for farcical acts involving blood and gore. Spectacular, but a little repetitive. There was something genuinely haunting about Marlene Dumas’s images of isolated human figures. Perhaps it’s because of the current Holocaust anniversary but the prepubescent kids lined up butt naked had some nasty undertones that sent a shiver down my spine.

Alongside Peter Doig, Luc Tuymans has produced the most compelling work. He steals snatches of memory and half-remembers them on canvas as if refracted through film. These are stark, sinister paintings, and far subtler than the likes of Nitsch or Immendorff.

Although there is much to recommend it, this exhibition is not an ‘event’ the way Sensation was, however hard it tries. Like Saatchi’s previous shows, this display of personal taste and tremendous wealth is likely to divide opinion. Maybe we should give ole’ Mr Saatchi a break and allow him some credit for so courageously exposing his collection to both the inevitably carping critics and the public. Do not be prepared for any shift from the challenging, though. ‘The Triumph of Painting’ is full of tough, conceptual work.

The good news (or maybe the bad) is that this current exhibition is only ‘The Triumph of Painting: Part One’. There’s plenty more to come.

Nice to IOC You

The International Olympic Committee is supposed to take into account public support for the 2012 Olympics in their assesment of our bid, but when they visit London this month they are not scheduled to meet any members of the public. Too busy having lunch with the great and the good, presumably. If you do see them, give a cheery wave! A fiver tucked into their top pockets probably wouldn’t go amiss either.

Pay to Party

New licensing laws to be introduced next year may require outside performances, for more than 5000 people, to make a one-off payment of between £1000 and £64,000 to the local council, on top of the license fee they already pay. Though aimed at the proliferation of boozy open air gigs and parties, organisers are worried that this may damage charity and theatre events.

What the Dickens?

In a recent poll Londoners have revealed that their favourite book is Martin Amis’ London Fields. Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend came second and the A to Z came fourth, beating such literary classics as Mrs Dalloway and Vile Bodies.

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