ART: BODY LANGUAGE AT THE SAATCHI

Carnalitos. Kaspar Kovitz. 2010. Iberco ham, concrete.

Where many exhibitions can be loosely thematically woven, and the disjointed jumbled-togetherness of pieces cause the collection to hardly seem like a coherent singular exhibition at all, Body Language at the Saatchi Gallery is a welcome and refreshing antidote. Happily the collection displays a wealth of relatively new art talent, whose explorations of “embodiment” are startlingly different and accessible to even the most estranged to modern art. After all, the human body is something we all have first-hand experience with, and strong emotional opinions towards, whether we know it or not. This collection goes to prove the man himself, Charles Saatchi was right when he insisted that the apparently endlessly fascinating human form as artistic inspiration has ‘retained its currency.’

The light-hearted busts of Basque heroes Miguel de Unamuno and Sabino Arana, carved from legs of ham stand out as particularly visceral pieces, in Kaspar Kovitz’s Carnalitos – a Spanish expression for close friends or “of the same blood.” Du Unamuno and Arana played significant but opposing roles in the Basque struggle for independence. The tongue-in-cheek, comedic nature of the piece was evident, as the large hunks of meat with chiselled out faces and beards balanced on top of the jaunty, dancing legs of bone beneath them. Kovitz manages to render a hilarious amount of expression onto the faces of these distinguished political leaders, carved from the fat of the ham, and the piece is all together amusing and humbling.

Eddie Martinez, an artist from Brooklyn with a background in graffiti, renders his impasto painting on huge canvases. The Feast, (243.84 x 853.44 cm) shows 12 figures sat at a long table laden with food. The instant association is the last supper, although Martinez maintains this was not his intention when creating the piece. Most of the characters along the table are hooded, disguised in costumes or are his signature clowns. The piece evokes excess, communicated via the riotousness of his technique and vivid use of colour.

Dana Schutz deals with the notion of humanity facing it’s true self – characterized by her invention of a race of auto-cannibals who would rather devour itself than cope with its own inadequacy. Face Eater is visually gruesome and depicts a slathering mouth consuming the rest of the face. Downtown LA native, Henry Taylor comments on community and black history in his piece She Mixed, in which we see a black man and white woman copulating on a mattress in the street. Taylor tackles racism and the hypocritical idea of degeneracy in society, inspired by his upbringing in his hometown.

Finally another sculpture, The Misanthrope by New Zealander Francis Uprtichard, stands amongst all this, draped in an acid yellow tie-die robe, and adorned with silver and turquoise jewellery. Bent-over with age, and with a look of resigned sadness, as his namesake suggests the misanthrope is a character who holds a hatred and distain for humankind and the nature of humanity.

This full and varied exhibition is a must see for art fans and will be continuing until 23, March, 2014.