NEW PAST – Contemporary UK Art

NEW PAST features 19 artists from the British Council Collection, celebrating the breadth and energy of the last two decades of artistic practice in Britain.

As a part of our 20th Anniversary in Uzbekistan, we organised NEW PAST – an exhibition which celebrated contemporary UK art. Bringing together the work of 19 artists from the British Council Collection, the exhibition explored generational conformity and discord in art emerging from the UK in the last 20 years.

The exhibition included pieces by the Young British Artists including Damien Hirst, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Gavin Turk and Sarah Lucas. They began to exhibit collectively in 1988 and dominated the UK art scene during the 1990s. They became known for their openness to materials and forms, as well as their entrepreneurial attitude.

The exhibition also featured works by several winners and nominees of the Turner Prize, Britain’s leading visual arts prize. These artists include Rachel Whiteread, Martin Creed, Martin Boyce, Cornelia Parker and George Shaw.

The fast pace of British artistic development in the last 20 years, alongside changes in other areas of contemporary life, has meant that some of these pieces are already considered iconic.

Visit each of the pages dedicated to different artists and learn more about their lives and work through specially prepared videos.

Haluk Akakce (1970 – )

Haluk Akakçe was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1970. He studied architecture at Bilkent University in Ankara, and then received an MA from the Royal College of Art, London and an MFA in video and performance at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Martin Boyce (1967 – )

Martin Boyce was born in Glasgow in 1967. He studied Environmental Art at The Glasgow School of Art, before completing an MFA. He currently lives and works in Glasgow.

Jake and Dinos Chapman (1966 & 1962 – )

Jake Chapman was born in Cheltenham in 1966 and studied at North East London Polytechnic. Dinos Chapman was born in London in 1962 and studied at Ravensbourne College of Art in London. Both studied at The Royal College of Art, London. They live and work in London and Oxfordshire.

Marcus Coates (1968 – )

Marcus Coates was born in London in 1968. He studied at the Kent Institute of Art and Design and the Royal Academy of Art, London. He lives and works in London.

Martin Creed (1968 – )

Martin Creed was born in 1968 in Wakefield, his family relocating to Glasgow, Scotland when he was three years old. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London from 1986 – 90.

Damien Hirst (1965 – )

Damien Hirst was born in Bristol in 1965. He studied at Jacob Kramer College of Art, Leeds, 1983 - 1985 and at Goldsmiths College, University of London, 1986 - 1989.

Gary Hume (1962 – )

Gary Hume was born in Kent, England in 1962. He studied at Liverpool Polytechnic and then Goldsmiths’ College, London where he became associated with the Young British Artists (YBAs) group in the late 1980s.

Gareth Jones (1965 – )

Gareth Jones was born in Milton Keynes in 1965 and studied at Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic. In 2006 he received a Paul Hamlyn Award for Visual Arts.

Simon Ling (1968 – )

Simon Ling was born in 1968. He studied at Chelsea College of Art & Design and then at the Slade School of Art in London.

Sarah Lucas (1962 – )

Sarah Lucas was born in London in 1962. She studied at the London College of Printing and graduated from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1987.

Julian Opie (1958 – )

Julian Opie was born in London in 1958, and studied at Goldsmiths College of Art from 1979 – 1982. He lives and works in London.

Cornelia Parker (1956 – )

Cornelia Parker was born in Cheshire in 1956. She studied at Wolverhampton Polytechnic and Reading University.

George Shaw (1966 – )

George Shaw was born in Coventry, England in 1966. He studied at Sheffield Polytechnic and later the Royal College of Art, London.

Bob and Roberta Smith (1958 – )

Bob and Roberta Smith is the adopted persona of the artist Patrick Brill. Born in London in 1963, he studied Fine Art at the University of Reading and later at Goldsmiths College, London.

Hayley Tompkins (1971 – )

Hayley Tompkins was born in Leighton Buzzard in 1971. She completed an MFA at The Glasgow School of Art in 1998 and lives and works in Glasgow. In 2013 Tompkins was selected to represent Scotland at the 55th Venice Biennale.

Gavin Turk (1967 – )

Gavin Turk was born in 1967 in Guildford, England. He attended the Royal College of Art between 1989 and 1991 and currently lives and works in London.

Rachel Whiteread (1963 – )

Rachel Whiteread was born in London in 1963 and studied painting at Brighton Polytechnic from 1982-1985, and later sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art, London from 1985-1987.

Wood & Harrison (1969 & 1966 – )

John Wood (born in 1969 in Hong Kong) and Paul Harrison (born in 1966 in Wolverhampton, England) both studied at the Bath College of Higher Education.

Toby Ziegler (1972 – )

Toby Ziegler was born in 1972 in London. He studied at Central Saint Martins, London before completing a two-year residency at Delfina Studios, London in 2006.