The Saatchi Gallery has opened an ensemble art exhibition of paintings and sculptures by artists who were once homeless or have worked with homeless people.
Filling one large room, it’s a wide-ranging collection of art by an equally wide range of artists, with the one core message that each work of art reflects the challenges of being homeless.
For an exhibition with such a strong ethical background, it can, in places, be exceptionally difficult to know that the art has homelessness at its heart, but that’s actually a good thing, as you can look at the art and the artist on the merits of the art created.
In that, it reminds us that being homeless is destroying the lives of people who could go on to create beautiful things if only they had the necessary support to get out of the homeless loop so many find themselves in. It’s a reminder of the waste of human ability that is caused by being held back by being homeless.
One of the most obvious reminders of the exhibition’s meaning can be found on one wall, though—a collection of signs made by people asking for help. Functional and practical, these cardboard signs still contain elements of gallows humour and artistry.
They’re also very noticeably, mainly from the USA for some reason.
The doors are a clever idea. They are both a barrier to the homeless, who are denied the sanctuary within and the final portal that a person walks through when losing their home. The artists created these following conversations with people living in temporary accommodation.
It turns out that the very large red metallic house was made from a car, which the artist lived in when he was homeless, and now transformed into a representation of how the car was his home.
Most of the objects on display are often quite interesting works of art in themselves, but the fact that they also tell a slightly hidden message adds depth to the experience.
The exhibition Homelessness: Reframed is at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea until 20th September 2024 and is free to visit.
The gallery is open daily from 10am to 6pm and is about a 10-minute walk from Sloane Square tube station.
The exhibition was curated in partnership between Prince William’s Homewards programme, Eleven Eleven Foundation and Saatchi Gallery. The artists in the show include Marc Quinn, Rankin, Philip Colbert, and Simone Brewster, alongside graffiti artist Opake, spoken word poet Surfing Sofas, and mixed media artist Robi Walters.