Saatchi's opening buzz

From The Times

December 9, 2005

CHARLES SAATCHI is to open his new gallery with a macabre artwork of miniature skeletons and dead insects.

Swarm will hang in 110 parts from the ceiling at the Duke of York’s headquarters in Chelsea, West London. Tessa Farmer, 27, is the first installation artist confirmed to exhibit at the space when it opens next year. Her work appears to consist of tiny human skeletons with wings perched along the segmented thorax of a dead dragonfly. The Birmingham-born sculptor’s microscopically detailed sculptures include wasps, daddy- longlegs, flies and spiders.

Farmer, who lives in North London, used tree roots to make the skeletons of “evil fairies” with three fingers and four toes.

Saatchi has rocketed several young British artists to fame and fortune as a result of his patronage, including Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst.