The Saatchi Gallery.

The Saatchi is a London gallery which opened in 1985, owned by Charles Saatchi. The gallery has been situated in three separate locations over the course of twenty years; Boundary Road, North London; County Hall, London South Bank; and Sloane Square, Chelsea.

The gallery displays a collection of contemporary art from both British and International artists. The gallery prides itself on showcasing young emerging artists as well as artist established abroad yet rarely exhibited in the UK. The Saatchi giving many of these artists newly acquired recognition. Much of the artwork displayed is generally that of unknown artists, both to the public, and to the commercial art world.

When the gallery first opened its doors in 1985, the general audience were those with a specific interest in the type contemporary art. However, as interest in this type of artwork has grown greatly over the past ten years, art has become a lot more accessible to the public, and to different classes, and The Saatchi gallery ha seen the number of annual visitors increase vastly. Now accommodating over 600,000 visitors a year.

The gallery has a long and impressive list of artists it has exhibited works by over the years, including; Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Cindy Sherman, Tracy Emin and Nan Golidn. All of whom are now well established and successful artist.

The gallery, which relies on new artists and new exciting works has over the last few years started putting money back into art, and into helping art students follow their chosen career paths. In 1999 the gallery donated one hundred works to the Arts Council Collection, who lend out works to other galleries and museums. In September 2000, forty more artworks, painting, sculptures and installations by young artists, were given to the National Art Collections Fund, which were later distributed to eight museums across the country. In 2002 fifty works were donated to the Paintings in Hospitals charity, providing original artworks to NHS hospitals throughout the UK, carefully selected to enhance hospital environments.

The Saatchi Gallery has also created a Young Artists Sponsorship Bursary to help support young artists. The bursaries at five major London art schools including, Chelsea School of Art, Goldsmiths, and The Royal College of Art, assist selected students in paying fees, paying for studio facilities and an entry into exhibiting.

In 2001The Saatchi Gallery exhibited the works of bursary students to help the graduates bridge the gap between college study and working as an independent artist, in the increasingly difficult industry.

Despite a highly successful twenty years as a gallery, The Saatchi and its owner; Charles Saatchi, haven’t been without their share of controversy and bad press…

In 1989 the works of Sean Scully and Julian Schabel were disposed of from a collection. It was assumed that the artwork was part of a permanent collection, although this in fact has never been agreed.

In 1997, the “Sensation” exhibition featured a piece of work by Marcus Harvey, a giant painting of the famous Myra Hindley mug shot, using children’s hand print. The piece of work resulted in outrage from the parents of the murdered children as well as many others. The work was defaced with ink and eggs, and subsequently had to be restored.

In 2006, the work of artists in an exhibition, “USA Today”, including newspaper cuttings smeared with the artists own semen, was deemed unsuitable for children, and some Royal Academicians made their thoughts that the works should be displayed in an adult only room known. A parental guidance notice was displayed before viewing the work.

More recently, a court case following years of feuding between Charles Saatchi and the landlords of the Count Hall; the location of the Saatchi Gallery between 2003-2005, ended in the gallery moving to Chelsea. The Gallery will be open to the public in the summer of 2008