We've got all you need to spring into summer looking and feeling your best
Spying at Saatchi
A cucumber protruding out of an old mattress, carcasses crawling with flies and Leslie Ash's pumped-up lips - I wondered who was really on display at the exhibition - the icons of Young British Art or the celebs?
I crashed the Saatchi party (well, I managed to blag a rare invite), but nothing could have prepared me for the surreal sights in store. Sashaying up the smart stairs of County Hall just a few steps behind Goldie and his wife was just an appetiser for the night of serious star-spotting ahead. Famous faces were at every turn. Wandering through the corridors of County Hall - my eyes on stalks - I didn't know whether it was the stench of new paint or the scents of the stars that left me dizzy.
Where to look first, when you've 100 naked bodies mixed with the A-Z of the celebrity circuit to choose from? The municipal corridors of the old GLC were adorned with more sights than a bumper issue of Heat magazine. I wasn't the only one staring - everyone was gawping at everyone else. A tanned (and rather scary-looking) Carol Vorderman peering at Emin's famous bed, Jeremy Irons slipping past Hirst's Hymm to inspect Jenny Saville's vast nudes, and the resplendent Nigella Lawson talking to Alan Yentob. I sipped on my Shark Bite, watching Corrine Day snapping a naked couple with the Chapman brothers holding court in the background, Stella McCartney gushing at Gwen Stefani, and Cindy Beale air-kissing foundation-faced Zoe Tucker from Footballer's Wives. There was more than enough sensation in the bar.
There's no escaping the ghosts of County Hall's GLC past and despite the celeb presence, there was still a slightly deathly atmosphere to the place. Roaming around the galleries and long wooden corridors you half expect a flock of civil servants to come steaming up the hall, files in hand. Paintings looked cramped in the over-bright pokey rooms. Damien Hirst's Spots squashed into too small a space. Saatchi is a clever collector and here his prized collection is on display, for £8.50 a visit. An anticipated 750,000 visitors will come to stare every year. Watching the wheels of the London Eye slowly spin outside the windows of County Hall, I couldn't help wondering who was being taken for the ride...
printer friendly
send to a friend
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Horoscopes| Message Boards | Quizzes | Newsletters | Join
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB
