MORE than a thousand celebrity guests arrived at The Saatchi Gallery, the new Thameside exhibition centre in the grand panelled rooms of the former County Hall, last night expecting sensation.
It duly arrived in the form of 200 men and women aged from 18 to 61 removing all their clothes and posing for photographs on the steps of the gallery. They then mingled with the shocked guests and even more shocking exhibits.
Marc Quinn, with the mould of his head filled with his own blood, and the sculptor Ron Mueck — as well as the celebrities, including the actors Stephen Fry and Kevin Spacey.
“I did it because Charles (Saatchi, the gallery’s proprietor) asked me to,” Tunick said.
“I showed him some of my previous work and he immediately invited me to do this. He has already bought one of the pictures which I took at this evening’s event to display in the gallery.”
As with so many of Saatchi’s exhibitors, Tunick is a controversial figure who has organised more than 50 nude installations in his native United States and abroad.
Since 1992 he has been arrested five times while attempting to work out of doors in New York, but every time the charges were dropped.
About 100 of the partygoers left the gallery to watch the display as the nudists, described as “ordinary, extraordinary people” by Tunick, were photographed in various compositions on the patio in front of the Thames entrance. Then the nudists, who were not paid to take part and come from all walks of life, escaped the cold and went inside to mingle.
One participant, Mark Roworth, 32, a computer programmer, said: “We had a quick run through with our clothes on an hour before, but we haven’t practised the whole thing before. I thought it would be a very interesting thing to do; you have to try something bizarre once in your life.”
Alan Yentob, the BBC executive whose clothes remained firmly on during the party, said: “It was a very British occasion. People took it very well, it was an interesting thing to do.”
The chef Nigella Lawson, Saatchi’s partner, kept well away from the naked display. “I didn’t see anything. I was just talking to my friends at the time,” she said.
She added that Saatchi had stayed at home and was probably lying on the bed watching television and reading bedtime stories to her children. The millionaire philanthropist has never been known to attend his gallery openings.
Stephen Fry, however, was more than happy to watch. “I can get this all at home. But I’m still delighted,” he said.
The gallery opens to the public tomorrow.
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