.gif)
Freeze (exhibition)
Encyclopedia
Freeze is the title of an art exhibition
that took place in July 1988 in an empty London Port Authority building at Surrey Docks in London Docklands. Its main organiser was Damien Hirst
. It was significant in the subsequent development of the Young British Artists
.
, who was then a student at Goldsmiths College of Art. Hirst and his collaborators consciously imitated the look of Charles Saatchi
's first gallery in St John's Wood that had opened a few years earlier. Saatchi, an art collector, attended Freeze and purchased a piece of art by Mat Collishaw
. Michael Craig-Martin
, a tutor at Goldsmiths Art College, used his influence in the London art world to convince Norman Rosenthal
and Nicholas Serota
to visit the exhibition.
A show of work by Angus Fairhurst
in February 1988 was the precursor to Freeze.
Fairhurst, along with other students from Goldsmiths College of Art, were instrumental in organizing Freeze. It was there that the work of the Young British Artists caught the attention of the collector Charles Saatchi.
The catalogue for Freeze had surprisingly high production values for a student exhibition. It was designed by Tony Arefin
and included an essay by art critic Ian Jeffrey
. The catalogue was funded by the property developers Olympia and York. The title of the show came from the catalogue's description of Mat Collishaw's macro photograph Bullet Hole which showed a gunshot wound to a human head (taken from a pathology textbook).
In 2007, Michael Craig-Martin
said in an interview with Brian Sherwin
:
The exhibition was sponsored by the London Docklands Development Corporation
and Olympia and York
.
filmed the exhibition and interviewed some contributors and was later aired.
Freeze influenced a group of artists later to be identified as the Young British Artists
(YBAs—often written yBas). The actual list of members in this art group remained fluid from project to project.
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
that took place in July 1988 in an empty London Port Authority building at Surrey Docks in London Docklands. Its main organiser was Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
. It was significant in the subsequent development of the Young British Artists
Young British Artists
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...
.
Organisation
Freeze was orchestrated by Damien HirstDamien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
, who was then a student at Goldsmiths College of Art. Hirst and his collaborators consciously imitated the look of Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi is the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and led that business - the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s - until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C...
's first gallery in St John's Wood that had opened a few years earlier. Saatchi, an art collector, attended Freeze and purchased a piece of art by Mat Collishaw
Mat Collishaw
Matthew "Mat" Collishaw is an artist based in London, and one of the Young British Artists.-Career:Collishaw attended Goldsmiths, University of London , alongside Damien Hirst and other YBA artists....
. Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin RA is a contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is noted for his fostering of the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, An Oak Tree...
, a tutor at Goldsmiths Art College, used his influence in the London art world to convince Norman Rosenthal
Norman Rosenthal
Sir Norman Rosenthal is a British curator. He was Exhibitions Secretary at the Royal Academy from 1977 until 2008. His encyclopedic programme of exhibitions which stretched from Egyptian antiquities to recent art production, included the exhibition of Charles Saatchi's collection of contemporary...
and Nicholas Serota
Nicholas Serota
Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota is a British art curator. Serota was director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, before becoming director of the Tate, the United Kingdom's national gallery of modern and British art in 1988. He was awarded a knighthood in 1999. He...
to visit the exhibition.
A show of work by Angus Fairhurst
Angus Fairhurst
Angus Fairhurst was an English artist working in installation, photography and video. He was one of the Young British Artists .-Life and work:Angus Fairhurst was born in Pembury, Kent...
in February 1988 was the precursor to Freeze.
Fairhurst, along with other students from Goldsmiths College of Art, were instrumental in organizing Freeze. It was there that the work of the Young British Artists caught the attention of the collector Charles Saatchi.
The catalogue for Freeze had surprisingly high production values for a student exhibition. It was designed by Tony Arefin
Tony Arefin
Abed "Tony" Arefin , was an influential graphic designer who designed many fine art catalogues in the 1990s. He was the chief art director of Frieze, the contemporary art magazine.-Early life in Pakistan and Bangladesh:...
and included an essay by art critic Ian Jeffrey
Ian Jeffrey
Ian Jeffrey is an English writer and art historian. He is the author of a series of illustrated books on the history of photography. In 1988, he authored the supporting essay in the exhibition catalogue of the contemporary art exhibition Freeze...
. The catalogue was funded by the property developers Olympia and York. The title of the show came from the catalogue's description of Mat Collishaw's macro photograph Bullet Hole which showed a gunshot wound to a human head (taken from a pathology textbook).
In 2007, Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin RA is a contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is noted for his fostering of the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, An Oak Tree...
said in an interview with Brian Sherwin
Brian Sherwin
Brian Sherwin is an American art critic, writer, and blogger with a degree from Illinois College in 2003. Sherwin is the Senior Editor for the artist social networking site myartspace, where he has written an extensive interview series with emerging and established visual artists...
:
- I had always tried to help my students in any way I could, particularly in those first years after art school. I knew from personal experience how difficult it was—I never had things come easy. I did the same with Damien and Freeze. I encouraged people to go and see the work. I would never have done this if I hadn't believed the show was of exceptional interest—why waste people's time? It amuses me that so many people think what happened was calculated and cleverly manipulated whereas in fact it was a combination of youthful bravado, innocence, fortunate timing, good luck, and, of course, good work.
The exhibition was sponsored by the London Docklands Development Corporation
London Docklands Development Corporation
The London Docklands Development Corporation was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and...
and Olympia and York
Olympia and York
Olympia & York was once a major international property development firm based in Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes like Canary Wharf in London, the World Financial Center in New York City and First Canadian Place in Toronto...
.
Legacy
The success inspired a second exhibition several months later, Freeze 2, featuring some artists from the first exhibition and some new faces from other London art schools. There was one contemporary review of the exhibition by Sacha Craddock. The BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
filmed the exhibition and interviewed some contributors and was later aired.
Freeze influenced a group of artists later to be identified as the Young British Artists
Young British Artists
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...
(YBAs—often written yBas). The actual list of members in this art group remained fluid from project to project.
The exhibitors
Two younger artists turned down the chance to be in the exhibition. Dominic Denis was listed in catalogue but did not show work. The 16 students who did exhibit at Freeze were:- Steven Adamson
- Angela BullochAngela BullochAngela Bulloch , is an artist who often works with sound and installation; she is recognised as one of the Young British Artists.-Life and career:...
- Mat CollishawMat CollishawMatthew "Mat" Collishaw is an artist based in London, and one of the Young British Artists.-Career:Collishaw attended Goldsmiths, University of London , alongside Damien Hirst and other YBA artists....
- Ian DavenportIan DavenportIan Davenport is an English painter, and former Turner Prize nominee.-Life and work:Ian Davenport was born in Sidcup in London, and studied art at the Northwich College of Art and Design in Cheshire before going to Goldsmiths College from where he graduated in 1988...
- Angus FairhurstAngus FairhurstAngus Fairhurst was an English artist working in installation, photography and video. He was one of the Young British Artists .-Life and work:Angus Fairhurst was born in Pembury, Kent...
- Anya GallaccioAnya GallaccioAnya Gallaccio is a Scottish artist, who often works with organic matter. She was a nominee in the 2003 Turner Prize.-Life and career:...
- Damien HirstDamien HirstDamien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
- Gary HumeGary HumeGary Stewart Hume is an English artist. His work is strongly identified with the YBA artists who came to prominence in the early-1990s. In 1996, Hume was nominated for the Turner Prize, but lost out to Douglas Gordon. Hume was elected a Royal Academician in 2001.-Life and work:Hume was born in...
- Michael LandyMichael LandyMichael Landy RA is one of the Young British Artists . He is best known for the performance piece installation Break Down , in which he destroyed all his possessions, and for the Art Bin project at the South London Gallery. On 29 May 2008 Landy was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in...
- Abigail LaneAbigail LaneAbigail Lane is an English artist. Lane was one of the exhibitors in the 1988 Damien Hirst-led Freeze exhibition—a mixed show of art which was significant in the development of the later-to-be YBA scene of art.-Life and work:...
- Sarah LucasSarah LucasSarah Lucas is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s...
- Lala Meredith-VulaLala Meredith-VulaLala Meredith-Vula is a Kosovan artist and photographer. In 1988 she was included in the Damien Hirst-led Freeze exhibition.-Life and work:Lala Meredith-Vula was born in Sarajevo and moved to England in 1970...
- Richard Patterson
- Simon Patterson
- Stephen ParkStephen ParkStephen Park is a British artist and comic performer. He was briefly associated with the Young British Artists in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and included in the seminal Freeze show.-Life and work:...
- Fiona RaeFiona RaeFiona Rae is a British artist. Her work is firmly identified with the Young British Artists who rose to prominence in the 1990s....