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Charles Saatchi talks up British art with Newspeak show
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent26 Apr 2010
Charles Saatchi is to present his biggest exhibition of new British art since the record-breaking Sensation show more than a decade ago.
Newspeak: British Art Now will showcase more than 60 artists living and working in the UK across two exhibitions, the first opening in June and the second in October.
It will be the largest show at the Saatchi Gallery, which opened off the King's Road two years ago, and is an expanded version of one premiered last autumn at the Hermitage in St Petersburg.
Saatchi, 66, lent his collection of Young British Artists to the Royal Academy for the Sensation show in 1997. Although the likes of Damien Hirst had already won the Turner Prize, it broke all records for a contemporary show and had an international impact.
Newspeak could certainly set records for the new Saatchi Gallery, even though its displays of work from China and from the Middle East ranked as the first and second most-visited shows in London in The Art Newspaper's survey of attendances last year.
The title is taken from George Orwell's novel 1984 in which newspeak is “the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller”. Saatchi has turned the Orwellian vision on its head by suggesting visual languages are rapidly multiplying.
The exhibition will feature artists including former Turner Prize nominee Goshka Macuga, Eugenie Scrase, who came to public attention aged just 20 in the BBC2 series School Of Saatchi, and rising stars such as Pablo Bronstein and Barry Reigate.
The British Art Show will continue the theme when it arrives at the Hayward Gallery, South Bank, in February. Organised by the Hayward and held every five years, it too has raised the profile of British artists. Some, such as Phoebe Unwin, will be in both shows.
Newspeak: British Art Now Part I will run from June 2 until October 17.
