Britart's biggest collector moves 10 major pieces as feud with landlord escalates
- The Observer,
- Sunday November 9 2003
- Article history
The assault on American sculptor Duane Hanson's life-sized figure of a woman pushing a pram, which caused more than £5,000 of damage, comes amid a bitter feud between the Saatchi Gallery and Mac Okamoto, its Japanese landlord.
Staff at the gallery have accused Okamoto of 'abusive and intimidating' behaviour, poisoning the atmosphere at a venue launched with great fanfare earlier this year as a showcase for Charles Saatchi's unrivalled collection of Britart.
Tensions appear to be escalating by the day and admirers of the gallery, containing signature works including Damien Hirst's shark and Tracey Emin's unmade bed, are concerned for its future.
The Hanson sculpture, Lady with Stroller, is another of the gallery's iconic works. Staff were shocked to discover one morning that its nose had been scraped off and one of its arms had been spat upon so fiercely it had lost its paint coating.
Lady with Stroller was displayed in the foyer of County Hall on London's South Bank, along with other Saatchi-owned artworks. But the incident has prompted Saatchi to move 10 major pieces to the safety of the exhibition proper or - as in the case of Hirst's paint-spotted Mini that was parked halfway down the grand staircase - into storage where they are out of view altogether.
The foyer area was being used with the permission of Okamoto and security staff clocked off when the gallery itself shut each evening. Who set about wrecking Hanson's sculpture in the middle of the night remains a riddle.
Okamoto has previously been accused of kicking an exhibit called Nomad - a sculpture by Gavin Turk of a homeless person curled up in a sleeping bag - at the gallery entrance. He has allegedly screamed abuse at staff who fail to recognise him.
Last month Okamoto appeared to flex his muscles by changing the locks on the gallery's single disabled toilet, forcing employees to mount a sign saying: 'Not for public use or clients of The Saatchi Gallery.' The gesture could now backfire on the Japanese businessman as campaigners threaten to take him to court.
The Disability Rights Commission has written to Okamoto complaining of blatant discrimination and warning of legal action if disabled visitors continue to be denied use of the lavatory.
Bert Massie, chairman of the Commission, wrote: 'The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 makes it unlawful to deny disabled people access for reasons related to their disability without a legal justification. Withdrawing the use of toilet facilities for disabled visitors in this manner would appear to constitute a gross and unlawful act of discrimination.
'The Disability Rights Commission will take whatever action is necessary to counter such obstructive attitudes and work with business to open up their services to disabled customers.'
Saatchi has already instructed his lawyers to address the toilet question and the wider problem of relations with Okamoto, who is European head of the Shirayama Shokusan Corporation, a property development company which for a decade has run County Hall. Other tenants have expressed discontent at his antics.
In September Okamoto reportedly had a furious confrontation with a female supervisor at the gallery who failed to recognise him as he tried to pass a sign instructing visitors the building was closed. She claimed: 'He passed me swearing. He asked: "What the f*** is this sign doing here?" I said if he had a problem he could speak to a member of security.
'He then retorted with: "This is my property, I am the landlord." He turned and came at me in a threatening manner, saying "Go f*** yourself" and "F*** you, girl".'
Security guard Rami Al Jaabari allegedly approached Okamoto when he saw him entering the gallery through a side door. 'I told him politely he had no rights to be inside the gallery unless given permission by the management,' he said. 'His reply was: "Tell your manager to f*** off. I am the f*****g owner of this place." With a complete disregard to security and health and safety rules, he continued to enter the gallery on numerous occasions.'
A spokesman for the Saatchi Gallery said last night: 'We have decided to remove the art from the foyer after one of the pieces by Duane Hanson was damaged after we had shut for the evening. As a result the work has required major restoration.' The spokesman declined to comment on wider points of conflict with the landlord.
Okamoto is no stranger to controversy. In 1998 he was accused of bombarding his general manager, Lisa-Jane Statton, with sexist and racist comments.
She told an employment tribunal he had pestered her for after-work dinner appointments because he wanted to have sex with her. She also alleged he described British women as 'bloody fat pigs' and Diana, Princess of Wales, as 'that big-nosed princess'. She said he had also made jokes about Jews, Americans and Pearl Harbor. Statton withdrew her allegations after Shirayama paid an undisclosed sum to settle the case.
Although his English wife, Olivia, was photographed by her husband's side after the settlement, he admitted she had threatened to leave him after reading reports of the case. Okamoto later claimed: 'I never said that English women were fat pigs. I never used that word. My wife is 49 and she has quite slim legs.'
Okamoto was unavailable for comment last night.
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