The view from here

Oh where to begin, how did my weekend go from 2 days to 4 days, I should have been elated, but being incarcerated in the house with everyone lost its gloss after just one day.
It is such a cliche but despite living in the northern hemisphere I reside in a city that grinds to a halt after just the merest sprinkling of snow, so when it was hit with 10 inches of the stuff it shut down for not one, but two whole days. as you can see the two girls I had left, had some fun but even they became jaded and very fractious by Tuesday. The previous day I had met mother and taken her to the Saatchi Gallery. Yes, I know I failed to post about my first visit, but I am still too traumatised by the events to write them down but give me time.
Incredibly even though it was just 3 weeks later, the exhibition had changed. I originally saw a contemporary Chinese Art exhibition, now this had been replaced by a Contemporary Iranian exhibition. Leyla much preferred the former, I the latter.

Three Generations. This is not a trick but the view through one of the exhibits, I did not realise that you could see our reflection until I loaded the photographs back at school.

Butter wouldn't melt. Not.

The way Saatchi has melded the old with the new is brilliantly seamless, I loved the glass extension, which gives you some wonderful vistas. The lighting in the gallery is the best I have ever seen too. What makes it so very good is that all this come for free.

My favourite pieces by a country mile were by Hayv Kahraman. I could not for a while think of what they reminded me of, but having seen her website here and more images here The penny dropped. Aubrey Beardsley
The paintings were very, very beautiful and well worth seeking out

I have actually seen this done in Cyprus, we were staying in the village and his uncle killed a sheep for a big barbecue that night. It looks horrible but it is by far the quickest and least stressful way for an animal to die. I liked the contrast of the butchery with the delicacy of the clothes

and what clothes they were, above are four close ups, the detail was amazing

Flag by Sara Rahbar more from here

Like Everyday by Shadi Ghadirian has a wonderful website here

I preferred this exhibition to the last one, I felt it was technically better and a more interesting and diverse range of images .

Another factor that makes me a big fan of Saatchi is that you can take photographs, which I love to do, that's when I can wrestle the camera from Leyla's very tight grip!

After the gallery we mooched around the Kings Road for a while, but it was very cold and mother was peckish, so we went to what is becoming my favourite restaurant, Oriel. Again a lovely meal, great service and we warmed up nicely. Which is just as well considering what came after.