The term Young British Artists (YBAs) is applied to a loose group of British artists who exhibited together beginning in 1988. This group may not have a cohesive signature style, but they became known for their openness to materials, processes, shock tactics, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Artists in the group include Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Michael Landy, Sarah Lucas, Tracey Emin, and Jenny Saville among others who also exhibited at the early shows.

The first exhibition to kick off this movement was Damien Hirst’s Freeze in 1988. A student at Goldsmiths College of Art at the time, Hirst included works by his fellow classmates, including Michael Landy, Sarah Lucas, and Angus Fairhurst. Artist Michael Craig-Martin was a teacher at the time and his influence played a major role in new forms of creativity that didn’t separate media into distinct categories.

London in the 1980s was not the cultural hotspot that competing cities, such as New York and Berlin, were. The YBAs signified a shift in the art world as well as a reaction to the challenges of an economically deprived country. Their initial exhibitions often used abandoned warehouses in London’s industrial wasteland.

The term “Young British Artists” was first used in 1992 and in 1996, YBA was coined in ArtMonthly magazine. Charles Saatchi, an important supporter of the YBAs, used his advertising background to push the movement into mainstream popular culture. The 1997 exhibition Sensation filled the Royal Academy in London, and the buzz around the YBAs made the 2000 opening of Tate Modern a smash hit. Until that time, London was the only major city without a public modern and contemporary art gallery.

Controversy and media attention are hallmarks of the Young British Artists. Damien Hirst’s formaldehyde-preserved animals frequently catch the attention of animal rights activists and Tracey Emin’s My Bed remains a talked about work of contemporary art that leaves the viewer asking “Is this art? What is art?”. This attention has ultimately worked in favor of the YBAs, who were making sales straight out of art school and now sell pieces for millions of pounds.

Installation pieces are popular with the group. Self-portraiture such as Jenny Saville’s nude images and Sarah Lucas’s explorations of gender and sexuality use the YBAs own bodies to explore ideas of identity. Found objects are also appropriated by artists such as Damien Hirst and Michael Landy. Landmark pieces from the movement gave the group a rebellious reputation and underlined the belief that they could get away with anything.

Today, many of the YBAs are in their 50s or 60s and continue to create popular albeit controversial pieces. Originally seeking to distance themselves from the art establishment, many of the YBAs are now firmly within it. Some have won the Turner Prize, some are Royal Academicians, and they regularly show their expensive works in top galleries. Despite this, the YBAs have encouraged new generations of artists to curate and produce their own works, without waiting for galleries such as Tate Modern to pick them up.