Young British Artists, also known as YBA’s, is the popular name given to a group of artists in the United Kingdom who gained recognition during the late 1980’s and the 1990’s. Most of these artists were born in the 1960’s and early 1970’s and work in and around London.
The YBA did not share a common style or theme. The group expanded traditional forms, such as sculpture and painting, with new concepts and materials. The YBA’s worked in such media as printmaking, photography, ceramics, video, drawing, and motion pictures. Many incorporated found objects—common items, such as stones or more unconventional materials, such as dead animals—into their works. Some YBA’s created installations, which are temporary works created for a particular indoor or outdoor site or space.
The YBA’s first gained publicity with an art exhibition called Freeze in a London warehouse in 1988. The exhibition was organized by Damien Hirst, then a student at the University of London’s Goldsmiths College. Many YBA attended the college in the late 1980’s. The term Young British Artists came from six exhibitions by that name presented from 1992 to 1996 at the Saatchi Gallery, a space founded by British art collector and advertising executive Charles Saatchi.
Damien Hirst became perhaps the most famous of the YBA’s with his highly publicized sculptures that featured preserved dead animals. Other YBA’s included Christine Borland, the brothers Dinos and Jake Chapman, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Ron Mueck, Chris Ofili, Cornelia Parker, Marc Quinn, Jenny Saville, Gavin Turk, and Rachel Whiteread. Like Hirst, many YBA’s created controversy with their unconventional works. For example, Whiteread presented a mattress as a work of art. Lucas created sculptures from fresh food, cigarettes, and women’s tights. Parker crushed found objects with a steamroller.
