Once Upon a Time in London
12th June, 2025 – 17th August, 2025
Saatchi Yates
14 Bury Street
St. James’s
London
SW1Y 6AL
A Celebration of London’s Past, Present, and Future Through the Eyes of Its Artists
Saatchi Yates presents a monumental summer exhibition, Once Upon a Time in London.
The exhibition is a celebration of London, its artists, and institutions, featuring commissioned works from contemporary artists as well as major loans drawing from the rich history, diversity, and cultural scene of London. For decades, London has been a major artistic crossroads where artists have challenged conventions and redefined the artistic landscape.
Once Upon a Time in London Artist include:
George Ruoy, Benjamin Spiers, Lucian Freud, Tracey Emin, R.B. Kitaj, Frank Auerbach, Gilbert & George, Grayson Perry, Jade Fadojutimi, Peter Doig, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Jenny Saville, Chris Ofili, Leon Kossoff, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Neil Stokoe, Paula Rego, Cecily Brown, Olaolu Slawn, Danny Fox, Michael Andrews, Oli Epp, Alvaro Barrington, Somaya Harrington, Bridget Riley, Joanna Van Son, Cato, Martin Maloney, Samuel Ross, and Yinka Shonibare.
The exhibition will survey how the city has evolved, yet remains a constant beating heart of groundbreaking art. Beginning after WWII, it features violent, psychologically twisted paintings from modern British masters Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, and Lucian Freud. It then moves to the golden years of the RCA, where America’s influence grows internationally—David Hockney paints a vision of Arizona as pop culture arrives on British shores.
In more recent times, the exhibition explores London in the ’90s—a generation of graduate artists who didn’t ask for permission, hosting exhibitions of cutting-edge conceptual art in abandoned shops and London buildings, embodying the punk spirit of the city. Damien Hirst’s medicine cabinets turn art into a science experiment—painkillers and antidepressants creating artificial emotional responses—while Jenny Saville’s graduation show presents a portrait that explores the female figure from entirely new perspectives.
More recently, works by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye bring a new viewpoint to the figurative painting tradition, and Jade Fadojutimi introduces a vibrant energy to abstract painting.
Oil on canvas, 130 x 200 cm
Finally, the exhibition explores the current community of London artists within this historic context. Artists such as Oli Epp and Benjamin Spiers create masterfully painted, surreal portraits that delve deep into the human psyche in a post-digital world.
Slawn brings post-Brexit Nigerian chutzpah to the London scene—rejecting the status quo with undeniable dynamism and force. These are just a few of the artists who make up today’s thrilling London scene. Once again, we see a new generation of artists challenging the established order. It is this iconoclastic spirit that links our city’s artists across generations.
Oil on canvas
150 x 160 cm
This calendar of events will mark the launch of the Saatchi Yates Membership, the first art gallery membership programme, with the aim of making art more accessible to the general public, enriching the dialogue between contemporary art and common culture.
Once Upon a Time in London opnes on the 12th of June, 2025 until the 17th of August, 2025 at Saatchi Yates
©2025 Saatchi Yates
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