Olaolu Slawn turns the Saatchi Yates Gallery into a living studio

At the Saatchi Yates Gallery, London-based artist Olaolu Slawn is currently presenting Slawn’s Studio, an exhibition that blurs the boundary between making and showing art. On view from January 22nd to February 22nd, the project transforms the gallery into a functioning studio, immersing visitors directly in the artist’s creative process.

From the moment you enter, the exhibition unfolds as a live environment rather than a static display. Paintings are created, altered, and sometimes abandoned in real time, while music is composed and recorded alongside the visual work. This hybrid format places collaboration, spontaneity, and movement at the heart of the experience, offering a raw and unfiltered view into Slawn’s practice.

Saatchi Yates Gallery as a working studio

At Saatchi Yates Gallery, the exhibition functions as Slawn’s working studio for the duration of the show. Friends, musicians, and fellow artists drift in and out, creating an atmosphere that is intentionally loud, fast-moving, and informal. Rather than a fixed presentation, the exhibition remains in constant flux, mirroring the rhythms of a studio in active use.

The exhibition centers on paintings made during Slawn’s residency in the space. Bold, primary-coloured portraits and his trademark frowning caricatures blend street aesthetics with Abstract Expressionism, their instinctive, unresolved surfaces echoing jazz-like improvisation and sharp social satire.

Music is integral to the project. Tracks are composed and recorded on site, underscoring Slawn’s fluid movement between disciplines. Together, sound and image transform the exhibition into a living work—one shaped by time, presence, and collective energy.

An experimental exhibition format

Presented by the Saatchi Yates Gallery, Slawn’s Studio proposes an alternative model of exhibition-making, where production and display happen simultaneously. It reflects Slawn’s wider approach to culture, which often challenges traditional hierarchies through irreverence and direct engagement. Known for interventions into luxury culture and high-profile commissions—from the Brit Awards to the FA Cup Trophy—Slawn brings that same disruptive energy into the gallery setting.

Discover our interview with Olaolu Slawn, touching on freedom, creative mischief, and the balance between peace and noise.