| Spying at Saatchi
Tara King bags herself an invite to the celeb-studded opening of the Saatchi Gallery in County Hall, but isn't sure where celebrity ends and art begins...
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.
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... |