Collector-curator Kay Saatchi, a guest speaker at AEI, receives tremendous media attention

Internationally renowned collector-curator, Kay Saatchi who was an inaugural speaker at Art Expo India 2009, received tremendous media attention. Sample this profile of hers by Vishwas Kulkarni in The Mumbai Mirror (September 27)

“At the Art Expo India at Nehru Centre in Worli on Saturday, the 56-year-old doesn't give the impression of being a media-harried entity. So how has life been after Charles Saatchi? If there is any bitterness, she does not show it. We practically built the Saatchi Gallery together. Then suddenly it was all gone. But one moves on. And one should."

The writer then puts the attention back to her favored theme of art, asking whether the economic crisis has affected the art world in London. She quipped:

"You know, the crisis is for those who were playing the auction game, and good for them! The bust is only applicable to those high rollers. I have always attempted to promote the young arts. My group show Anticipations locates the most cutting-edge emerging artists in Britain. My partner Catriona Warren and I source the best student artists from all over the nation. All the works are priced between £500-£1500, and if there is a large work with special materials then it goes up to £8000; but that's only happened once. Also, all 100 per cent of the proceeds gostraight to the artists. My philosophy has always been to ring in the new."

How does she dodge the hip deluge that has swamped the art world across the globe? "I ignore it. That's my advice to everyone. Sincerity is the key word. It's important to work with genuinely dedicated artists, genuinely dedicated art galleries. Or else everybody will be trying to pull off an Andy Warhol act. But the point is that even Warhol has a valid sociological context from which he was operating; it wasn't just tinny, bratty works. I hope the younger lot gets that," she concluded.

(Image source: The Mumbai Mirror)