Sarah Lucas Biography

Born London, England 1962

Sarah Lucas (born 1962 in London, England) is an artist who came to prominence as one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) in the 1990s. Her work is known for its sly wit – addressing the low level misogynist sexual stereotyping that is a feature of British tabloid newspapers and the use of readymade elements.

She studied at the London College of Printing before switching to fine art at Goldsmiths College from 1984 - 1987, where she had a relationship with Damien Hirst, before forming one with Gary Hume. Her early work was sculptural installations, and with this work Lucas took part in the Freeze exhibition.

In interviews she has admitted that after Freeze her career languished for a few years and she was known primarily as Gary Hume's girlfriend. After spending a year with him in New York in 1990, the relationship ended and Lucas returned to London, where she began a long-lasting relationship with Angus Fairhurst. Lucas's breakthrough came in 1991 when she had a solo exhibition at City Racing of collages based on spreads from British tabloid newspapers.

The lurid pieces emphasising sex, deformity, violence and sensationalism, typified many of the elements associated with the YBAs. Charles Saatchi bought the entire set and they were exhibited at his then-North London Saatchi Gallery the following year. Lucas used the money from the sale to finance "The Shop", a project run with friend Tracey Emin as "The Birds" in 1993.

Many of Lucas's works from this period were subtle parodies of the work of more famous contemporaries. Apart from contributions to group shows such as Brilliant! (1995) and Sensation (1997) Lucas did not have a major solo exhibition until 1998, when one was organised by her dealer Sadie Coles in an empty building in Clerkenwell. The exhibition featured Lucas's signature of cigarettes, stuck onto objects such as crash helmets.

In 2000 Lucas was commissioned to install a series of works at the Freud Museum; this was accompanied by an exhibition at Sadie Coles' Gallery. These works were female-type forms made using tights and inspired by Louise Bourgeois. Lucas's 2006 solo exhibition at Tate Liverpool was criticized by Jonathan Jones in The Guardian as mediocre.

It is reported that Lucas has declined nomination for the Turner Prize on a number of occasions. Lucas inspired the critical song "The Death of Sarah Lucas" by Luke Haines, on his album The Oliver Twist Manifesto.

Select Timeline

Select Exhibitions

• 1992 - Penis Nailed To A Board, City Racing Gallery, London
• 1992 - The Whole Joke, 8 Kingly Street, London
• 1993 - The Shop with Tracy Emin , 103 Bethnal Green Road, London
• 1993 - From Army to Armani with Tracey Emin, Galerie Analix, Geneva
• 1994 - Got a Salmon on (Prawn), Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, Where's My Moss, White Cube, London
• 1995 - Supersensible, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York
• 1996 - Sarah Lucas, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen Rotterdam
• 1996 - Sarah Lucas, Portikus Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• 1996 - Is Suicide Genetic?, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
• 1997 - The Law, St. John's Lofts London
• 1997 - Bunny Gets Snookered, Sadie Coles HQ London
• 1997 - Car Park, Ludwig Museum Koln
• 1998 - Odd-bod Photography, Sadie Coles HQ London
• 1998 - The Old In Out, Barbara Gladstone Gallery New York
• 1998 - Sensation: Young British Artists in the Saatchi Collection, Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn, New York
• 1999 - Beautiness, Contemporary Fine Arts Berlin
• 2000 - Self Portraits 1990-98, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo
• 2000 - Sarah Lucas: Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud Museum, London
• 2000 - Sex and the British, Galerie Thaddeus Ropac Paris
• 2000 - New British Art, Tate British Millbank, London
• 2000 - Sex and the British, Galerie Thaddeus Ropac Paris
• 2001 - CAKE, Sarah Lucas at Counter Editions, London
• 2002 - Charlie George, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
• 2002 - Sarah Lucas, room installation at Tate Modern, London
• 2003 - Temple of Bacchus (with Colin Lowe and Roddy Thomson), Milton Keynes Gallery, England,
• 2004 - In-A-Gadda Da-Vidda, (with Angus Fairhurst and Damien Hirst), Tate Britain,
• 2004 - Empreinte Moi, Galrie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris
• 2004 - Gifted, The Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London, London
• 2004 - Drunk vs. Stoned, General Store in association with Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York
• 2004 - Werke aus der Sammlung Boros, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
• 2004 - Esprit/Spirit, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris
• 2004 - Atomkrieg, Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany
• 2004 - Man, Rubble, London
• 2004 - 57th Aldeburgh Festival, Contemporary British Sculpture at Snape (Angus Fairhurst, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas), Snape, England
• 2004 - Sculpture: Precarious Realism between Melancholie and the Comic, Kunsthalle Vienna
• 2004 - From Above, Georg Kargl, Vienna, Austria
• 2005 - Sarah Lucas Retrospective, Kunsthalle Zurich; Kunstverein Hamburg; Tate Liverpool
• 2005 - GOD IS DAD, Gladstone Gallery, New York,
• 2006 - In the darkest hour there may be light, Serpentine Gallery, London
• 2006 - All Hawaii Entrees/Lunar Reggae, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
• 2006 - Defamation of Character, PS 1 MoMA, New York
• 2006 - Eye on Europe: Prints, Books, & Multiples/1960 to Now, MOMA, New York
• 2006 - Vanitas, De Hallen, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem. The Netherlands

Select Artwork

• Perceval
• Cigarette Tits, 1999
• Beer Can Penis, 1999
• Swan's Way, 2006
• Bucket of Tea, 1994

Quotes

Publications

• Sarah Lucas - by Matthew Collings, Tate (May 1, 2003)
• In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: Angus Fairhurst, Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucus - by Gregor Muir, Clarrie Wallis, Tate (June 29, 2004)

Quick Facts

• Her work is known for its sly wit.
• She has admitted that after Freeze her career languished for a few years and she was known primarily as Gary Hume's girlfriend.
• Lucas's breakthrough came in 1991 when she had a solo exhibition at City Racing of collages based on spreads from British tabloid newspapers.
• It is reported that Lucas has declined nomination for the Turner Prize on a number of occasions.

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