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Two Slade students in School of Saatchi
30 November 2009
Links:
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p71qk" target="_self">School of Saatchi Two students from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art are among the six finalists of the BBC programme School of Saatchi.
The selection panel, consisting of artist Tracey Emin, critic and broadcaster Matthew Collings, art collector Frank Cohen and Barbican curator Kate Bush, saw the potential in Eugenie Scrace, in the second year of the BA Fine Art programme and Saad Qureshi, currently a second year MFA student.
In the 1990s, art collector, gallery owner and advertising mogul Charles Saatchi championed the 'YBAs' (Young British Artists), whose numbers include Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. The premise of the programme is Saatchi's search for his next protégé.
Saatchi will select one artist to exhibit at his next major exhibition, Newspeak: British Art Now, at the Hermitage Gallery in St Petersburg. The chosen artist will also be provided with his or her own studio for three years.
Eugenie divided the opinion of the panel with her initial presentation, a work inspired by Swedish roadwork stands, but strong support from Tracey Emin saw her through to the final six with an impressive life drawing and a tactile sculpture of a whistle hanging on a door handle. Eugenie is interested in the strangeness of things, and her sculptures and installations are formed out of curious found objects, some of which she replicates by making them herself.
Saad presented four canvases to the panel, who were impressed with his themes of cultural identity and belonging. They were unanimous in their appreciation of his video work, My longing weeps for everything, which depicts the distorted perception of belonging.
The series now follows the six artists as they are commissioned to make a series of ambitious artworks to be assessed by Saatchi and his panel. The next episode, aired on Monday 30 November at 9pm on BBC2, follows the six artists as they are commissioned to produce large-scale pieces of art for the seaside resort of Hastings.
To find out more, use the links at the top of this article.
Image: Eugenie (front row left) and Saad (front row right)
UCL context
The Slade School of Fine Art is concerned with contemporary art and the practice, history and theories that inform it. It approaches the study and practice of art in an enquiring, investigative, experimental and research-minded way. Slade facilities and infrastructure for research support the discourse around painting, sculpture and fine art media. The Slade School is one of England's leading university departments for Fine Art research.
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