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Young British ArtistsYoung British Artists is the name given to a collective of conceptual artists based in the United Kingdom. It is often reduced to "YBA". The work of the YBAs is dubbed Britart. The phrase is attributed to a series of exhibitions organised at the Saatchi Gallery in 1990/1. The former term has dated somewhat as some of the YBAs are now in their forties. They were formed in 1988, during the Thatcher-era, at a time when arts grants were not especially forthcoming. A group of 16 artists, most of whom were graduates of London's Goldsmiths College, were assembled by Damien Hirst to take part in an exhibition he was curating called Freeze. A lack of interest in modern art on the part of the major galleries led to the show being held in a Docklands warehouse. The event chimed with the rise of the 'Acid House' warehouse rave on the rise at the time. One of the visitors to the exhibition was rich art-collector and advertising-mogul Charles Saatchi, who has since bought much of the group's work. In additionon Saatchi's patronage, the collective have benefited from the intense media-coverage and controversy that tends to surround the Turner Prize, and also from a fleet of new contemporary galleries such as Karsten Schubert, Sadie Coles, Victoria Miro, Interim Art, Jay Jopling's White Cube, and more recently Tate Modern. The group from an early stage was more socially cohesive than having any shared aesthetic concerns or agenda. Sarah Lucas has had relationships with in turn Damien Hirst, Gary Hume and Angus Fairhurst. Gillian Wearing had relationships with Mark Wallinger and Michael Landy. Tracey Emin had a relationship with both Carl Freedman and Matt Collishaw. Places where it would be possible to spot YBAs included the Groucho Club, St. Johns Restaurant and pubs around Hoxton. However, much of the YBA's work is owned by Saatchi, which led to his 1997 Sensation exhibition, containing much of his personal collection, and shown in London, Berlin and New York. In 2002 Britart was heavily criticised by the leading conductor Sir Simon Rattle, who was, in return, accussed of having a poor understanding of conceptual and visual art. In Spring 2003 Saatchi opened a new gallery in London, the Saatchi Gallery, to exhibit the work of these artists. On 24 May, 2004, a fire in a storage warehouse destroyed many works from the Saatchi collection. Beyond the core group of the artists from Freeze a second wave of YBAs appeared in 1992-3 through exhibitions such as 'New Contemporaries' and 'New British Summertime'. This included Douglas Gordon, Christine Borland, Fiona Banner, Tracey Emin, Tacita Dean and The Wilson Sisters. The composition of the YBAs at there height is documented by the catalogue for the 1995 British Art Show. Original Young British Artists (from Freeze) : Other YBAs: See Also
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