What is London art to you? Is it the haunted faces from Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach, ripped from a city at war? Or perhaps a punkish spirit reigns, in Damien Hirst’s medicine cabinets and Slawn’s bold streaks of colour and Yinka Shonibare’s playful motif? Or perhaps it’s all of them, in which case Saatchi Yates’ celebration of London is calling your name.
Beginning in the aftermath of the Second World War, a new exhibition, ‘Once Upon a Time in London’, gathers established and emerging artists in an eclectic consideration of London’s impact on the cultural landscape. For gallery founders Arthur Yates and Phoebe Saatchi Yates, who upon opening the space in 2020 were told that London’s art scene had been overtaken by Paris and Milan, it feels like a defiant return to form.
Grayson Perry, The Adoration of the Cage Fighters, 2012
Works from artists including David Hockney, George Rouy, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Michael Armitage, Jade Fadojutimi, Peter Doig, Chris Ofili and Bridget Riley trace Britain’s artistic movement from post-war, through recessions and pandemics, to Brexit and onwards. There’s a party spirit throughout, and a packed programme of events and collaborations; highlights include a catalogue overseen by Norman Foster, the launch of St John x Saatchi Yates’ wine, and a mischievous Nicky Haslam art-world tea towel.
Danny Fox, Black grape vape, purple tape, Gauguin’s cape, 2024
Art on show is an eclectic mix, with a rethinking of traditional mediums key throughout. Contemporary moments, such as Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s enigmatic reworkings of figurative painting, join a classic rethinking of genre, seen in the subversive female figures in Jenny Saville’s graduation show. Seen together, the works are a triumphant love letter to London’s best bits. ‘As a gallery, we want to build a dialogue between the art world and the public,’ say the founders.
'Once Upon a Time in London' is at Saatchi Yates, 12 June - 17 August 2025, saatchiyates.com
Peter Doig, Junior _ Lion, 2017
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Sermons for Heathens, 2016
Damien Hirst, Nothing Can Stop Us Now, 2006
Tracey Emin, Waiting You, 2014
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