Young British Artists (YBAs)

The term Young British Artist or YBA is most strongly associated with a period in the 1990s, when a new group of young creatives, nearly all graduates of Goldsmiths College, London, came into the British mainstream art scene with their refreshing new visions of contemporary life. The core group was made up of the artists who participated in Damien Hirst's 1988 Freeze exhibition, which launched a trend for East London factory and warehouse shows. Charles Saatchi remains one of the YBAs' greatest collectors, and his investments helped to publicise the group's work through exhibitions such as Sensation in 1997 at the Royal Academy. The artists used a wide variety of materials to create their pieces, and this is reflected in the sheer diversity of their portfolios. The YBAs are credited with reviving the British art scene with their bold and sometimes controversial work, and have gone from being seen as anti-establishment to mainstream, with many of the artists now Royal Academicians, Turner Prize winners and nominees and OBEs.