"Young British Artist" might sound like a generic description. To art fans in the 1980s and 1990s it meant something very specific. Like the Brat Pack in 1980s Hollywood, the Young British Artists were a group of conceptual sculptors, installation artists and painters with shared ideals. In essence they rejected the traditional painting in a picture frame in favour of something more challenging.
Rebellious, controversial and shrewd in business, they played a huge part in British art towards the end of the 20th century. Here we look back at some of their most famous works and find out what they are up to now.
The background
The YBA movement was born at Goldsmiths in London under the mentorship of Sir Michael Craig-Martin, with many of its core members graduating between 1987 and 1990. The art world first noticed the group in 1988, when they staged an exhibition called "Freeze" in an empty building in the London docklands.
Organised by the 23-year-old Damien Hirst, perhaps the most famous of the YBAs, the exhibition caught the attention of some of the most important people in British art. The most significant was the businessman and art patron Charles Saatchi, who bought one of the works and began a long and fruitful relationship with the group.
The YBAs soon had a reputation for organising, funding and promoting their own exhibitions, admittedly with financial help from people like Saatchi, usually in empty warehouses along the Thames. Before long the media attention their antics attracted led established galleries to show their work.
The famous works
The group included many artists, but the best known are probably Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood, Sarah Lucas and Henry Bond.
Two of the most famous works of the scene are Hirst's "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" from 1991 and Emin's "My Bed" from 1999. Each was shocking in its own way, and the fact that they book-ended the decade shows how far the YBAs dominated it.
Hirst's piece, funded by Saatchi, is a dead tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde. First exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery and praised by the New York Times as "outstanding", it drew attention from critics around the world, many of whom attacked its simplicity. To the claim that anyone could have made it, Hirst famously replied: "But you didn't, did you?"
When the first shark deteriorated it was replaced with a new specimen, which led people to ask whether it was still the same artwork. Hirst's view was that the intention behind the work mattered more than the finished result, a philosophy that underpins much conceptual art of the 21st century.
Eight years later came Emin's "My Bed". Shown at the Tate Gallery and shortlisted for the Turner Prize, it was inspired by a depressive period in which she spent many days in bed, drinking, smoking and gathering objects and rubbish around her.
It was as controversial as the shark. It drew similar criticism for its simplicity, and its sordid details disgusted some viewers. Originally bought by Saatchi and kept at the Saatchi Gallery and later in his own home, it was sold in 2014 for over £2.5 million.
The YBAs today
Hirst and Emin are still making art and attracting controversy. Hirst's exhibition at the Venice Biennale, "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable", has drawn criticism for its similarity to the artwork of Jason deCaires Taylor, who has been known for years for his underwater installations. It isn't clear how aware Hirst was of the resemblance or whether it was intended, but he has always had a mischievous sense of humour.
- Tracey Emin is now a Royal Academician at London's Royal Academy of Arts.
- Sam Taylor-Wood, now Sam Taylor-Johnson after her marriage to the actor Aaron Johnson, is best known as a film and TV director.
- Henry Bond has made a name as a writer and street photographer.
- Sarah Lucas continues to show around the world. Her exhibit at the 2015 Venice Biennale was characteristically playful.
Getting inspired by the YBAs
Many YBA works can be seen in galleries around the country. Marc Quinn's "Self", a sculpture of the artist's head filled with his own blood, is at London's National Portrait Gallery, and works by Jake and Dinos Chapman can be seen at Tate Liverpool.
If you'd like some of their famous pieces at home, it doesn't have to involve a tiger shark and several gallons of formaldehyde. Order a good-quality print or photograph and hang it on your wall. Visit our Picture Frames & Mounts page, enter the dimensions of your image and we'll send your frame within days.