In the late 1980s, the British art scene was heading into new territory, into a new era that would come to be known as YBAs: the Young British Artists. The term, along with Brit Art, refers to the group of conceptual artists, painters, sculptors and installation artists based in the United Kingdom, most of whom attended Goldsmiths College in London. These artists became well known first through the 1988 exhibition Freeze, organized by Damien Hirst, who was then still a student. The “Young British Artists” shows at Saatchi Gallery starting in 1992 gave a name to the movement that was sweeping through the British art world The exhibitions and the resulting era were known for “shock tactics” like Damien Hirst’s “Dead Head”, the incorporation of discarded or destroyed objects, and a wide use of installation and a new approach to painting. These artists and their work became world famous in the 1990s and shaped the contemporary art scene worldwide. The culmination of the trend came in 1997, with the famous Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy. At the same time, their work also drew great criticism, with some critics saying that the artists either misunderstood conceptualism and others challenging the idea that the artists’ installations were actually art.
YBA artists include Freeze exhibition artists:
• Steven Adamson
• Angela Bulloch
• Mat Collishaw
• Ian Davenport
• Angus Fairhurst
• Anya Gallaccio
• Damien Hirst
• Gary Hume
• Michael Landy
• Abigail Lane
• Sarah Lucas
• Lala Meredith-Vula
• Richard Patterson
• Stephen Park
• Fiona Rae
More YBA artists:
• Fiona Banner
• Christine Borland
• Simon Callery
• The Chapman Brothers - Dinos & Jake
• Tacita Dean
• Tracey Emin
• Liam Gillick
• Martin Maloney
• Steve McQueen
• Chris Ofili
• Marc Quinn
• Jenny Saville
• Georgina Starr
• Sam Taylor-Wood
• Gavin Turk
• Keith Tyson
• Gillian Wearing
• Rachel Whiteread
• The Wilson Sisters (Jane and Louise)