Sarah Lucas (born 1962) is an English artist. She is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged in 1988. Her works frequently employ visual puns and bawdy humour by incorporating photography, sculpture,

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

and found objects.

Life and work

Education

Lucas was born in London, England in 1962. She left school at 16, returning to study art at The

Working Men's College The Working Men's College (also known as the St Pancras Working Men's College, WMC, The Camden College or WM College), is among the earliest adult education institutions established in the United Kingdom, and Europe's oldest extant centre for adu ...

(1982–83),

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

(1983–84), and

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

(1984–87), graduating with a degree in Fine Art in 1987.Sarah Lucas
Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Work

Lucas was included in the 1988 group exhibition '' Freeze'' along with contemporary artists including

Angus Fairhurst Angus Fairhurst (4 October 1966 – 29 March 2008) was an English artist working in installation, photography and video. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). Life and work Angus Fairhurst was born in Pembury, Kent. Having attende ...

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

, and Gary Hume. In 1990, Lucas co-organized the East Country Yard Show with Henry Bond, in which she also exhibited. Her first two solo exhibitions in 1992 were titled ''The Whole Joke'' and ''Penis Nailed to a Board''. It was in the early 1990s when Lucas began using furniture as a substitute for the human body, usually with crude genital punning. Created for a show organised by fellow artist Georg Herold at Portikus, ''Au Naturel'' (1994) is an assemblage of objects—a mattress, a bucket, a pair of melons, oranges and a cucumber—that suggest male and female body parts. For six months in 1993, Lucas and fellow artist

Tracey Emin Dame Tracey Karima Emin (; born 3 July 1963) is an English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork. She produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, Neon lighting, neon text ...

rented a retail space in east London, ''The Shop'', where they made artworks, ranging from printed mugs to T-shirts with slogans, and put them on sale. In works such as ''Bitch'' (table, T-shirt, melons, and vacuum-packed smoked fish, 1995), she merges tabloid culture with the economy of the ready-made. In earlier work, she had displayed enlarged pages from the '' Sunday Sport'' newspaper. Through her career, Lucas has continued to appropriate everyday materials (including, for example, freshly made fried eggs) to make works that use humour, visual puns and sexual metaphors of sex, death, Englishness and gender. Sarah Lucas is also known for her 'Artist as Subject' approach where she produced a series of self-portraits, such as ''Human Toilet Revisited'', 1998, a colour photograph in which she sits on a toilet smoking a cigarette. In her solo exhibition ''The Fag Show'' at Sadie Coles in 2000, she used cigarettes as a material, as in ''Self-portrait with Cigarettes'' (2000). And in 2001, Sarah Lucas used Neon tubes for her artwork 'New Religion' in which a transparent coffin has been lit up violet. It was later acquired by

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

in 2004. Lucas' 2006 sculpture of a life-size bronze horse and cart, ''Perceval'', is situated in Compton Verney, Warwickshire. Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', in 2011, Aida Edemariam said that "Lucas was the wildest of the Young British Artists, partying hard and making art that was provocative and at times genuinely shocking."Aida Edemariam
"The Saturday interview: Sarah Lucas"
''The Guardian'', 28 May 2011. In 1996, she was the subject of a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary, ''Two Melons and a Stinking Fish''.

Exhibitions

Lucas had her first solo exhibition in 1992 at City Racing, an artist run gallery in south London, and her first solo show in New York at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in 1995. One-person museum exhibitions at Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, at Portikus in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, at Museum Ludwig in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and at Kunsthalle Zürich, Kunstverein am

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Tate Liverpool Tate Liverpool is an art gallery in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The gallery was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporatio ...

have accompanied exhibitions in less conventional spaces—an empty office building for ''The Law'' in 1997, a disused postal depot in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

for the exhibition ''Beautiness'' in 1999, and an installation at the Freud Museum called ''Beyond the Pleasure Principle'' in 2000. Lucas's work has been included in major surveys of new British art in the last decade including '' Brilliant!—New Art From London'' at the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, in 1995, '' Sensation'' (Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in 1997), and ''Intelligence—New British Art'', 2000, at Tate Britain. In 2003, Sarah Lucas participated in the 50th International Biennale of Art in Venice, ''Outlook: Contemporary Art in Athens'', and ''In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'', a three-person exhibition for Tate Britain with Angus Fairhurst and

in 2004. From October 2005 to January 2006,

presented the first survey exhibition of Lucas's work. In 2012 Lucas curated ''Free'', an exhibition at the Southbank Centre by the Koestler Trust. The annual exhibition displays art works by prisoners, detainees and ex-offenders. The theme was '50', to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Koestler Trust and Lucas was 50 years old at the time. In 2013 the Whitechapel Gallery in East

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

hosted a retrospective of Lucas' work. Tabish Khan writing for Londonist said about the exhibition: “Though it's the sexually charged art that dominates this exhibition, Lucas is at her most powerful when exercising restraint and subtlety”. In 2015 Sarah Lucas represented Britain at the 56th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

with ''I SCREAM DADDIO.'' She was interviewed by close friend Don Brown during the installation of the exhibition. In September 2018, The New Museum presented the first American survey of Lucas' work in the exhibition "Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel". Lucas has also created new sculptural works for the exhibition, including ''This Jaguar's Going to Heaven'' (2018), a severed 2003 Jaguar X-Type—the car's back half burned and its front half collaged with cigarettes—and ''VOX POP DORIS'' (2018), a pair of eleven-foot-tall thigh-high platform boots cast in concrete. The exhibition traveled to the

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

in Los Angeles in June 2019. The National Gallery of Australia's 2021-22 ''Know My Name Exhibition Part Two'' features the work ''Installation of Project 1: Sarah Lucas,'' as well as her first self-portraits, ''Eating a Banana.'' Numerous works by Lucas feature in the exhibition Big Women at the firstsite gallery in Colchester in the UK in Spring 2023. In September 2023 an exhibition of her work opened at the Tate Britain. Writing about the Tate Britain exhibition Tabish Khan, writing for Culture Whisper, described the show as “It’s a show that’s playful, sexually charged and at times extremely dark". In 2024, the Kunsthalle Mannheim shows a solo-exhibition of her works, curated by Luisa Heese.

Feminist interpretation

Lucas frequently employs a critical humour in her work in order to question conventions and highlighting the absurdity of the everyday. One of Lucas' most famous works ''Two Fried Eggs and Kebab'', parodies the traditional still life and evokes similarities between itself and feminist Judy Chicago's infamous piece The Dinner Party''.'' Feminist reviews often describe Lucas as attempting to add female artists into the canon of art history through her analytical work that predominantly discusses the female body and voyeurism. Lucas frequently appropriates masculine constructions to confront and dissect their nature. Her pieces represent a fantastical world and playfully employs unrealistic ideals to unearth obscene paradoxes created by those very constructions. Specifically, she is concerned with the casual misogyny of everyday life and employs the conventions of middle class or 'street' language to enact her concepts. Her appropriation of masculine symbols such as the phallic banana or 'fried eggs' in conjunction with her fearless and dominating gaze, takes 'female work' out of the feminine sphere and disrupts the patriarchal power dynamic of the gaze. Works such as ''The old in Out'' (1988) is a reference to

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

's ''

Fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

'' (1917) and ''Two Fried Eggs and Kebab'' (1992) has been linked to

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

's '' Olympia'' (1863). While Lucas continues the artistic legacy of feminist artists such as Hannah Wilke,

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

, and Rachel Whiteread, her visual language empties femininity of meaning and thus removes her from such a clear 'feminist art' title. Sexuality is not apparent in her works and a lack of association with morality leaves viewers at the free will of her humorous narratives. Lucas takes on the role as a source of reflecting sexism, but not overtly commenting on it. She has stated that, "I am not trying to solve the problem. I'm exploring the moral dilemma by incorporating it". Her works are both literal and conceptual evidence of Lucas searching for meaning. Whether it is through recognizable forms or her own mythologized fantasies, her ideas constantly build and transform. She appears to never be satisfied with her outcome and scours every imaginable medium for an outlet that is fitting. To her, the artworks she makes “...carry on talking and thinking with other people". Lucas's practice is then not compulsive ramblings or automatic depictions, but a conscious yearning for a personal sense of happiness.

Personal life

Sarah Lucas was born in 1962 to a milkman father and a part-time gardener and cleaner mother, who she says had "absolutely no ambition." She grew up in an estate in Holloway, north London, though she frequently accompanied her parents to other homes to "ogle the furniture." She became pregnant at 17 after leaving school at 16 and had an abortion, then deciding to hitchhike around Europe in search of a direction for her life. Lucas now lives with her partner Julian Simmons, in the former residence of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

near Aldeburgh; a home which is "tucked away down a long country lane, behind a Baptist church in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

." In August 2014, Lucas was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

'' opposing

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.

Young British Artists

Young British Artists (YBAs) also known as the Brit artists or the Britart, are a group of British artists who in 1988 began to exhibit together. The group was organized by

and includes Angus Fairhurst, Michael Landy, Christine Borland, Tracey Emin, Cornelia Parker, and Gary Hume. The group became famous for their openness to materials and processes, shock tactics and entrepreneurial attitude. Their first exhibition ''Freeze'' included the work of Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Angus Fairhurst, and Michael Landy while they were all still students at Goldsmiths College of Art. The term "Young British Artists" was coined in May 1992 by Michael Corris in ''Artforum.'' The acronym YBA wasn't created until 1996 when it was published in ''Art Monthly'' magazine. The terms became the brand for the group and showcased the "can do" spirit their art entailed.

Gallery representation

Lucas is represented by Sadie Coles HQ, London, Barbara Gladstone, New York, and Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin (CFA).

References

External links

Sadie Coles HQ: Sarah LucasGladstone Gallery: Sarah LucasTate Liverpool Sarah Lucas survey show (2006)Sarah Lucas feature on BBC Collective (2005)Sarah Lucas on the Tate web siteArtist portrait / spike art quarterly

Brooklyn Rail In Conversation Sarah Lucas with William CorwinContemporary Fine Arts, Berlin: Sarah Lucas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Sarah 1962 births Living people 20th-century English women artists 21st-century English women artists Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the London College of Printing Artists from the London Borough of Islington English contemporary artists People from Holloway, London Young British Artists