The Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988. Many of the first generations of YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsmiths, in the late 1980s, the second rather from the Royal College of Art.

They are noted for “shock tactics”, use of throwaway materials, wild-living, and an attitude “both oppositional and entrepreneurial”. They achieved considerable media coverage and dominated British art during the 1990s.

I love these artists, the YBA is my favourite art movement, followed closely in 2nd place by expressionism.

Damian Hirst

Born in 1965, is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is reportedly the United Kingdom’s richest living artist, with his wealth valued at £215m in 2010.

Death is a central theme in Hirst’s works. He became famous for a series of artworks in which dead animals (including a shark, a sheep and a cow) are preserved sometimes having been dissected in formaldehyde. The best-known of these was The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a 14-foot tiger shark immersed in formaldehyde in a clear display case.

He has also made “spin paintings”, created on a spinning circular surface, and “spot paintings”, which are rows of randomly coloured circles created by his assistants.

Some of the materials and techniques that he (or his many assistants) use to create his artworks are; spin painting, sculpture, installation art, steel, glass, acrylic paint, shark corpses, cow corpses, diamonds, flies, platinum, human teeth, sheep corpses, stainless steel, bronze, and fiberglass.

Some of the artists and art movements that have influenced him are; Conceptual art, Young British Artists, Modern art, Modernism, Contemporary art, Expressionism, and Francis Davison.

Some of the major world events in his lifetime were; The Vietnam War between 1955 and 1975. 9/11 in 2001.

I like Damian Hirt’s work, it is very shocking and thought-provoking, which is always good.

Mat Collishaw

Born in 1966, is an English artist based in London.

Collishaw’s work uses paint, sculpture, installation art, photography and video. His best-known work is Bullet Hole (1988), which is a closeup photo of what appears to be a bullet hole wound in the scalp of a person’s head, mounted on 15 lightboxes. Collishaw took the original image from a pathology textbook that actually showed a wound caused by an ice pick.

Some of the artists and movements that have influenced him are; British pathologist, Austin Gresham, wrote a handbook, A Colour Atlas of Forensic Pathology, in 1975. Collishaw said it became “the Britart bible”, as a source for explicit images of dead bodies for artwork, Contemporary Art, and Young British Artists,

Some of the materials and techniques that he uses to create his artwork are; oil painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, video, Acetal, Acrylic, Brass, electric circuitry, PVC, Resin, servo motors, and steel.

Some of the major world events in his lifetime were; The Vietnam War between 1955 and 1975. 9/11 in 2001.

He’s my favourite artist by far. I can’t explain in words how much I love Mat Collishaw’s art. It was his art that originally made me interested in art, and without its influence, I may not have been where I am today. I love his dark and creepy aesthetic, I love his obsession with death, and I love how he’s constantly creating new and innovative artwork, even incorporating virtual reality into one of his exhibitions.

Tracey Emin

Born in 1963, Tracey Emin is an English artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and sewn appliqué.

Her work is mostly installation art, where she shows the viewer a metaphorical window into her mind and life. Her art is very personal. Like, her most famous artwork is her real bed that she practically lived in for a couple of months whilst dealing with some pretty heavy mental health problems. Apparently, it was said to smell really bad. It even had real used condoms strewn around at the foot of the bed. But she has also made a lot of drawings, paintings, and sculptures; all of which are very personal as well.

Some of the materials and techniques that she uses are; drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text, sewn appliqué, her literal bed, a tent, fabrics, graffiti, pen, and pencil.

Some of the artists and movements that have influenced her are; Conceptual art, Young British Artists, The Medway Poets, Billy Childish, Edvard Munch, and Egon Schiele.

Some of the major world events in her lifetime were; The Vietnam War between 1955 and 1975. 9/11 in 2001.

I love her work, it is emotionally charged and powerful. She’s not afraid to completely open up her life and mind to the big wide world, which is a very brave and respect-worthy feat. Art instantly becomes better when the artist shows parts on themselves in their art, in my opinion, anyway.