Saatchi Gallery celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. Can you tell us about its origins and how the gallery – and its mission – have evolved over time?
The Gallery was founded in 1985 by Charles Saatchi to enable as many people as possible to view works from his collection in an uncompromised environment where the art takes centre stage. The Gallery transitioned to charity status in 2019 and it remains a core tenet of our mission that we make contemporary art and creativity accessible to as the widest possible audience. Today, the Gallery no longer showcases works from the Saatchi Collection. Instead, our team organises a mix of free events featuring new talent and major ticketed exhibitions. Throughout its 40 years, Saatchi Gallery has championed new art by new artists.
How can institutions like Saatchi Gallery ensure that they remain relevant in today’s fast-moving world and capture the attention of different generations?
More visual imagery is consumed today than at any time in human history. That consumption is typically done via smartphones or social media in a brief and transitory manner. Galleries exist to curate a choice of content and encourage deeper engagement. Those elements of curation and experience will hopefully enable those organisations to survive and prosper – as long as they continue to be valued by audiences. However, galleries cannot be complacent – they need to innovate and improvise to find interesting and relevant ways of presenting content to different audiences.
To what extent do museums and galleries act as “safe havens” in uncertain times – providing spaces for reflection, dialogue and discovery?
There are artworks − and, by extension, exhibitions, museums and galleries − that offer comfort to many visitors and encourage escapism. There are works that uplift viewers or foster an appreciation of beauty. Art is a broad church and it also has the capacity to stimulate audiences to engage with the wider world or perceive it in fresh ways. People often seek guidance to help them navigate uncertainty. Art rarely provides a complete roadmap or remedy for anxiety but it can create new insights and provide a moment of clarity or inspiration.
Over time, uncertainty has shaped human thinking in both a positive and a negative way. It has undoubtedly also influenced the work of countless artists. Can you think of an exhibition or specific work you have viewed that explores the connection between art and uncertainty in a particularly memorable way?
Within the present exhibition, The Long Now, we are showing a very special installation by the artist Richard Wilson called 20:50. This work consists of a room filled almost entirely with black sump oil – except for its one gangway that visitors can walk down. That path narrows and the waist-height oil gets closer and closer to the viewer as they approach the end of the gangway in the centre of the oil-filled room. The oil forms an almost-perfect mirror, reflecting the upper sections of the room. Within this installation, the viewer has to contend with layers of uncertainty. The brain struggles to comprehend what the eyes perceive. The temptation is to reach out and touch but that would be a mistake. The nose can smell the petroleum fumes and this often evokes a number of memories and associations. Over 40 years, this work has been installed in various venues. Its impact has grown larger over time – partly because oil and fossil fuels are now at the heart of the uncertainty surrounding climate change and our future.
How has the evolving relationship between art and technology changed the way you curate exhibitions?
We are increasingly seeking to create major exhibitions that incorporate media and provide a rich tableau of different experiences. We know that different audiences might favour different kinds of experiences. We are also aware that families and groups may consist of visitors of different ages and backgrounds. It is important to have a variety of artworks to enable each visitor to engage with an exhibition. It is satisfying to focus on a theme or subject and then explore it in a dynamic way. When done with passion and respect, it is possible to please both the traditionalists and the digital-natives – because both share an underlying engagement with visual culture.
How does Saatchi Gallery engage with emerging artists and help them gain international recognition?
The Gallery typically presents three major exhibitions each year and we strive to offer a platform for emerging artists within these shows as much as possible so that their creations can appear alongside the works of established titans. We put our entire marketing drive behind them. On the ground floor of the Gallery, we create a rotation of free-entry exhibitions through most of the year with a heavy emphasis on showcasing emerging artists in these spaces.
How important is your collaboration with companies like EFG – which have their own corporate art collections – when developing exhibitions?
I believe it is vitally important to both parties. The Gallery truly appreciates having the opportunity to showcase works that might be difficult to present otherwise – and that have often been acquired through a process of careful curation, resulting in a very high calibre of work. Both parties share an underlying appreciation of the impact, value and power of art. It follows that any business should be congratulated for presenting its art to the public. So much art is in warehouses or private homes around the world and yet enlightened private enterprises contribute something valuable when they loan works to public galleries and museums.
How do you select the partners you collaborate with? Do you have specific criteria such as shared values, a cultural vision or the desire for social impact?
As a registered charity, the support of our partners is vital in enabling us to continue our mission to make contemporary art accessible to all and to provide a platform for emerging artists. We endeavour to build authentic partnerships built on shared values, with each collaboration developed in association with our partners to ensure alignment with their business goals. We are particularly keen to work with organisations that share our passion for contemporary art, which is why it has been a pleasure collaborating with EFG and learning more about its art collection. This shared appreciation creates a basis for an impactful partnership.
How do you see the role of Saatchi Gallery evolving in the contemporary art landscape over the next few years?
We are unencumbered by any permanent collection or self-imposed restriction on the art and creativity we showcase. We plan to further evolve our exhibition strategy, building on the successful exhibitions of recent years and continuing to experiment and innovate. We will not get everything right, but we are ambitious and will seek to create a physical space and digital presence that is dynamic, relevant and contemporary. Our aim is to create a brand that commands attention but is hard to pigeonhole. Art is often about the unexpected.
What advice would you give to young curators or art professionals who aspire to work in a renowned institution like Saatchi Gallery?
Do. Do. Do. Say yes to as many interesting opportunities as possible. Create opportunities if they are not in the landscape around you. Build audiences and followers. Don’t stagnate, always look to innovate.
This interview was published in the spring 2026 edition of EFG’s InTalks magazine.