Young British Artists (YBA) is the official name given to a group of conceptual artists, sculptors, painters and installation artists based in the United Kingdom . Most of them attended Goldsmiths College in London. The term Young British Artists is derived from shows staged at the Saatchi Gallery from 1992 onwards, which brought the artists to fame. YBA has become a historic term, as most of the members are now in their forties. It is essential to mention that these artists are noted for "shock tactics", use of throwaway materials and wild-living. They are also associated with the Hoxton area of East London. YBAs achieved significant media coverage and dominated British art during the 1990s. The heart of the later YBAs originated in 1988, at a time when public funding for art was not totally available (and had been reduced by the Thatcher government). A group of 16 Goldsmiths College students took part in an exhibition called Freeze . Damien Hirst became the main organiser of the exhibition. Commercial galleries had not been really interested in the project, and it was held in an inexpensive alternative space, a London Docklands admin block (usually referred to as a warehouse). The event resonated with the 'Acid House' warehouse rave scene prevalent at the time, but did not achieve any superior press nomination. However, one of its effects was to set the example of artist-as-curator (in the mid 1990s artist-run exhibition spaces and galleries became a feature of the London arts scene). In intercourse with Hirst, Carl Freedman (who had been friends with him in Leeds before Hirst moved to London and was helping to make Hirst's vitrines) and Billee Sellman then curated two influential "warehouse" shows in 1990, Modern Medicine and Gambler, in a Bermondsey former factory they designated Building One. To stage Modern Medicine they raised £1,000 sponsorships from artworld figures including Charles Saatchi. Freedman commented that not many people attended these early shows, including Freeze. He also mentioned that the self-fulfilling prophecy these sponsors helped to create had been evident. The first exposure was given to many artists by establishing alternative spaces such as City Racing at the Oval in London and Milch. There was much undeveloped activity in the Hoxton/Shoreditch area of East London focused on the gallery of Joshua Compston. In 1991 the Serpentine Gallery presented a survey of the future YBAs with the exhibition Broken English, in part curated by Hirst. It was not until 1992 that Saatchi staged a number of exhibitions at his gallery and devised the name Young British Art. The first show featured the work of Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Mark Wallinger and Rachel Whiteread. A second appearance of Young British Artists happened in 1992-3 through exhibitions such as 'New Contemporaries', 'New British Summertime' and 'Minky Manky' (curated by Carl Freedman). There appeared Douglas Gordon, Christine Borland, Fiona Banner, Tracey Emin, Tacita Dean, Georgina Starr and The Wilson Sisters. The catalogue for the 1995 British Art Show documents the composition of the YBAs at their height. Charles Saatchi, a major contemporary art collector and co-founder of Saatchi and Saatchi, the London advertising agency, was one of the visitors to Freeze. According to some sources, Saatchi then visited Gambler in a green Rolls Royce and, according to Freedman, stood open-mouthed with astonishment in front of (and then bought) Hirst's first major "animal" installation, A Thousand Years, consisting of a large glass case containing maggots and flies feeding off a rotting cow's head. (The installation was later a notable feature of the Sensation exhibition.) As a result, Saatchi became not only Hirst's main collector, but also the main sponsor for other YBAs–a fact openly acknowledged by Gavin Turk. Saatchi had until this time collected mostly American and German contemporary art, some by young artists, but most by already established ones. The contemporary art market in London had dramatically collapsed in mid-1990 due to a major economic recession, and many commercial contemporary galleries had gone out of business. Saatchi's collection was exhibited in a series of shows in a large converted factory building in St John's Wood, north London. Previous Saatchi Gallery shows had boasted such major figures as Warhol, Guston, Alex Katz, Serra, Kiefer, Polke, Richter and many more. Now Saatchi turned his attention to the new generation of Young British Artists. There was much concern when Saatchi dismantled himself of some of his earlier collection, since it had a meaningful downward effect on the value of some of the artists whose works he sold. This man invented the name "Young British Artists" for a series of shows called by it, starting in 1992, when a noted exhibit was Damien Hirst's "shark" (The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living), which became the iconic work of British art in th 1990s,and the symbol of Britart worldwide. In addition to (and as a direct result of) Saatchi's patronage, the Young British Artists got advantage from intense media coverage. This was increased by controversy surrounding the annual Turner Prize, (one of Britain's few major awards for contemporary artists). It had several of the artists as nominees or winners. Channel 4 had become a sponsor of the competition, leading to television profiles of the artists in prime-time slots. The Young British Artists re-vitalised a whole new generation of modern commercial galleries such as Karsten Schubert, Sadie Coles, Victoria Miro, Maureen Paley's Interim Art, Jay Jopling's White Cube, and Antony Wilkinson Gallery. Frieze launched in 1991 embraced the YBAs from the start while established publications such as Art Monthly, Art Review, Modern Painters and Contemporary Art were all re-launched with more focus on emerging British Artists. The spread of interest improved the market for contemporary British art magazines through increased advertising and circulation. Moreover, Hirst had become an internationally recognised significant artist, with shows in Europe and the USA. The enlargement of the YBAs' status appeared in 1997. That was when the Royal Academy, which has a reputation as a bastion of conservatism, staged a major, definitive exhibition of their work, Sensation. To tell the truth, this was actually a showing of Charles Saatchi's private collection of their work, and he owned the major pieces. The bond was effected by the Academy's Norman Rosenthal. But there was strong opposition from some of the Academicians, three of whom resigned. Controversy raised in the media about the show, especially over Marcus Harvey's work Myra, served to reinforce the YBAs' importance. When the show toured to New York there was even greater controversy caused by Chris Ofili's work. From an early stage the Young British Artists were more socially than aesthetically connected. 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 Carl Freedman and then Mat Collishaw. Fiona Rae dated Stephen Park for several years, and then Richard Patterson for a similar duration. Sam Taylor-Wood has dated Gary Hume, Jake Chapman and is currently linked to Jay Jopling. Places where it would be possible to spot YBAs included the Groucho Club, St. John (a restaurant specialising in offal) and (in the early years) pubs around Hoxton, such as the Bricklayer's Arms. Hoxton is known as the heartland of the British modern art scene of the time. YBAs who had exhibited at Freeze Steven Adamson Angela Bulloch Mat Collishaw Ian Davenport Angus Fairhurst Anya Gallaccio Damien Hirst Gary Hume Michael Landy Abigail Lane Sarah Lucas Lala Meredith-Vula Richard Patterson Stephen Park Fiona Rae Dominic Denis Other YBAs Fiona Banner Christine Borland Simon Callery The Chapman Brothers - Dinos & Jake Adam Chodzko Tacita Dean Tracey Emin Liam Gillick Douglas Gordon Marcus Harvey Martin Maloney Steve McQueen Chris Ofili Marc Quinn Jenny Saville Georgina Starr Sam Taylor-Wood Gavin Turk Keith Tyson Gillian Wearing Rachel Whiteread The Wilson Sisters (Jane and Louise) Jay Jopling