After a brutal display in a restaurant window where art boss and gallery owner, Charles Saatchi, choked his ex-wife, the culinary queen, Nigella Lawson, Saatchi pulled a stunt that is simply shameless.
The choker seems to be revelling rather than hiding from his new twisted reputation he gained by advertising numerous art works depicting the all-hands-on-neck incident.
Saatchi’s art website, SaatchiArt.com, hosts an open online gallery where artists can upload their work and Saatchi pockets 30% of the asking price. And of the 40 000 works for sale there are no more than 7 pieces where artists drew inspiration from the man himself and his ex-wife.
The Saatchi chief site curator replied on the standard user agreement which prohibits artwork that is otherwise ‘defamatory,’ ‘violent,’ or ‘threatening, promoting violence’, disagreeing and claiming that ‘Saatchi Art does not believe in censorship unless the material is pornographic or incites racial hatred’.
One painting that really took to the spot light is a Van Gogh and Simpsons inspired piece entitled ‘Saatchi & Saatchi’. The artist, Darren Udaiyan, spoke of the painting explaining his concept and inspiration: ‘It’s not really controversial, Saatchi is strangling Nigella but it’s also about him squeezing the art market.’
Here are a few of the artworks submitted to the SaatchiArt.com website:
Darren Udaiyan – ‘Saatchi & Saatchi’
Carface Margybab – ‘Charles Saatchi vs Nigella Lawson’
Left: Jane Kelly – ‘Art collector throttling a cook’. Right: Pete Jones – ‘Last course’.
Source: Grubstreet.com