SaLon Gallery's window looks like a debauched Ladurée display. Shona Davies' black and white Wedding and Funeral cakes with orgiastic couples skanking and dying horribly on the tiers are a suitably schizophrenic introduction to an exhibition of sweet and razor sharp surprises. SaLon seems to be courting controversy in a sophisticated and understated way.
The gallery's philosophy is teeming with liberal epithets regarding the nurturing of young artists and a tenaciously, anti-elitist approach to art. With the subjective and flimsy structure of much of the art world and an untapped slew of talent, these could be sweeping statements from a trendy manifesto, disguising a superficial and inactive reality. However curator Samir Ceric, an émigré Bosnian aristocrat and renaissance man with a formidably eclectic and politically intuitive CV (click here for a full interview) is clearly wholly dedicated to these impressive aims. Samir has created a supportive centre for young artists to progress and exhibit work to more diverse audiences. They organize exchange programs to Moscow and New York, travel around universities to lecture on the practical elements of a career as an artist and scout a wide-range of sources for up-and-coming talent. Believing that many art schools do not prepare students for their post-graduation careers; or enlighten them as to the dangers of releasing their art into a collector's market, they are attempting to demystify the transition from student to artist and establish better connections between dealer and artist. This fight against institutional elitism is all the more remarkable coming from somebody with Samir's background who could easily be subsumed into the aristocratic whirl of jets and jacuzzis.
SaLon's philosophy of combining music, entertainment, fashion and art is encapsulated in this diverse, colourful and exciting exhibition, which is a real mix of Dadaist experimentalism and Warholian Pop. Pieces include used can and cigarette creatures rendered painstakingly in ceramic (Playful Can, Emily Stephenson), impressions of Amy Winehouse and Charlotte Church encrusted with discarded jewellery (Amy and Charlotte, Sarah Dwyer) and elaborate portraits with mundane titles such as Mum (James Allen), something that seems to be a growing trend and fits in neatly with the non-elitist approach.
The art is accessible yet strong. Many pieces convey their latent ideas through visual humour and personality rather than using cheap shock tactics or moralistic tableaux. Sexuality, the often-crude staple of graduate art is referenced via seaside postcard style humour (Sarah Maple's Passport); and instead much of the focus is on identity, nationality and contemporary media. A common feature of all the pieces is to suggest that good art can be likeable and have commercial appeal without losing impact. Many of the pieces I would gladly hang on my wall or have free-standing in my living room: SaLon has struck a chord with the buyers and provided them with a product that wholly justifies the hefty price tags.
The only potential flaw in SaLon's ideology is the fluctuating nature of art's cultural status. Pierre Bourdieu, for example, saw art as inherently bourgeois, whilst, at the other end of the spectrum, Andy Warhol wholly embraced commercialism with his 'fifteen minutes of fame' ideology. At the one end is pre-constructed snobbery; at the other a loss of art's mystique and specificity. A more genuine and compassionate approach with a savvy yet communal sensibility could re-invigorate areas of the scene, and at the very least is an intriguing project. Samir is undertaking a radical overhaul of the public's art-consciousness, and he says he has already been criticized by the mainstream media and key players in the art world. If he plans to expand their horizons, he may no doubt have a dubious light cast on the project still. But his passion for the subject is infectious and genuine and no doubt SaLon will arrive triumphant in New York with its young artists better prepared for what awaits them.
And as for those wedding cakes in the window, apparently the police received complaints and asked Samir to remove them. I somehow doubt they will be gone however, which goes to show that even small acts of anarchy are what the art world is really all about.
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