Britain: Pickled sharks and soiled beds took centre stage yesterday with the launching of millionaire Charles Saatchi's new BritArt gallery in the heart of London.
Paintings smeared with elephant dung, sculptured heads full of blood, flies buzzing around putrid cows - the shock troops of BritArt have created a cocktail of sex, death and body parts.
The reclusive Saatchi (59), who made his fortune in advertising with his brother, Maurice, has over the past two decades amassed a collection of more than 2,000 pieces.
Saatchi almost single-handedly made the reputation of Damien Hirst, of pickled sheep and sharks fame, and Tracey Emin, with her soiled bed covered in champagne corks and used condoms.
The gallery, which hopes to attract up to 750,000 visitors a year, is housed on the banks of the River Thames in the ornate and cavernous halls of County Hall, the seat of London's government from 1912 to 1987.
The monumental granite building overlooks the Houses of Parliament and is dwarfed by the London Eye ferris wheel, two of the capital's biggest attractions.
Saatchi Gallery spokesman William Miller defended the reputation of BritArt, lambasted in the past by critics who said that the artists were merely trying to shock for the sake of it.
"We get phone calls every week from major art galleries around the world who want to see these works," he told Reuters on the gallery's international media day. "People want to see them in the same way that they turn up at the National Gallery to see the Titians and Holbeins."
Mr Miller believes that prurience will not be their sole motive. "I hope people will come here because they think they are great works of art rather than coming to the house of horror or looking for the shock."
He dismissed as media hype talk of a much-publicised rift between Saatchi and British art mogul Nicholas Serota, who runs the Tate Modern gallery just along the river.
With the galleries, concert halls and theatres along the Thames now being dubbed "Culture Mile", Mr Miller argued: "I think we are entirely complementary. If we can bring a wider audience to British contemporary art, it can only benefit the Tate Modern in the long term. We have joined a vibrant arts community."
The new gallery is to host a lavish opening ceremony tonight with celebrity guests ranging from actor Jeremy Irons to pop superstar David Bowie. But the publicity-shy host may not be there.
"I have yet to see whether Charles will turn up to his own party. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't," Mr Miller said. - (Reuters)