Sensation Exhibition
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Sensation'' was an exhibition of the collection of contemporary art owned by
Charles Saatchi Charles Saatchi ( ; ; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest advertising agency in the 19 ...
, including many works by
Young British Artists The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Golds ...
(YBAs), which first took place 18 September – 28 December 1997 at the
Royal Academy of Arts 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 London. The exhibition later toured to the
Hamburger Bahnhof Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart is the former Train station#Terminus, terminus of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstrasse in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as ...
in Berlin and the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
in New York City. A proposed showing at the
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
was cancelled when the gallery's director decided the exhibition was "too close to the market." The show generated controversy in London and New York City due to the inclusion of images of
Myra Hindley The Moors murders were a series of child killings committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in and around Manchester, England, between July 1963 and October 1965. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesl ...
and the
Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
. It was criticised by New York City mayor
Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General fr ...
and others for attempting to boost the value of the work by showing it in institutions and public museums.


Works

The artworks in ''Sensation'' were from the collection of
Charles Saatchi Charles Saatchi ( ; ; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest advertising agency in the 19 ...
, a leading collector, advertising mogul and publiciser of contemporary art.
Norman Rosenthal Sir Norman Rosenthal (born 8 November 1944) is a British independent curator and art historian. From 1970 to 1974 he was Exhibitions Officer at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. In 1974 he became a curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art ...
, the Royal Academy of Arts exhibitions secretary, helped to stage the 116 works by 42 different artists on view. (110 are in the catalogue, with differences between that and the exhibition checklist.) Many of the pieces had already become famous, or notorious, with the British public (for example,
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 ...
's
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
suspended in
formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is an organic compound with the chemical formula and structure , more precisely . The compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde. It is stored as ...
titled ''
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living ''The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living'' is an artwork created in 1991 by Damien Hirst, an English artist and a leading member of the "Young British Artists" (or YBA). It consists of a preserved tiger shark submerged ...
'',
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 ...
's tent titled ''
Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 ''Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995'' (1995), also known as ''The Tent'',Brown, p.83. was an artwork by Tracey Emin. The work was a tent with the appliquéd names of, literally, everyone she had ever slept with (not necessarily had s ...
''),
Marc Quinn Marc Quinn (born 8 January 1964) is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, ident ...
's self-portrait (a frozen head made from pints of his own blood) and
Sarah Lucas 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 and found object ...
's explicitly sexual images and sculptures. Others had already achieved prominence in other ways, such as a successful advertising campaign using an idea from
Gillian Wearing Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. H ...
's photographs. ''Sensation'' was the first time that a wide audience had had the chance to see these works en masse. The Royal Academy posted this disclaimer to visitors on entry:


London

The opening of ''Sensation'' at the
Royal Academy of Arts 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 ...
caused a public furore and a media frenzy, with both
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
and tabloid journalists falling over themselves to comment on the show's controversial images, and unprecedented crowds queuing up to see for themselves what all the fuss was about. Around a quarter of the RA's 80 academicians gave a warning that the exhibition was inflammatory. They and some members of the public complained about several other exhibits, notably the installations by
Jake and Dinos Chapman Iakovos "Jake" Chapman (born 1966) and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman (born 1962) are British visual artists, previously known as the Chapman Brothers. Their art explores deliberately shocking subject matters; for instance, in 2008, they produc ...
, which were of child mannequins with noses replaced by penises and mouths in the form of an anus. However, the biggest media controversy was over ''
Myra Myra (; , ''Mýra'') was a city in Lycia. The city was probably founded by Lycians on the river Myros (; Turkish: ''Demre Çay''), in the fertile alluvial plain between, the Massikytos range (Turkish: ''Alaca Dağ'') and the Aegean Sea. By the ...
'', an image of the murderer
Myra Hindley The Moors murders were a series of child killings committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in and around Manchester, England, between July 1963 and October 1965. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesl ...
by
Marcus Harvey Marcus Harvey (born 1963 in Leeds) is an English artist and painter, one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). Exhibitions Harvey has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including "The Führer's Cakes" at Galleria Marabini in Bologna ...
.Dalrymple, Theodore. (Winter 1998)
Trash, violence, and Versace: But is it art?
''City Journal''. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
The Mothers Against Murder and Aggression protest group picketed the show, accompanied by Winnie Johnson, the mother of one of Hindley's victims. They asked for the portrait, which is made up of hundreds of copies of a child's handprint, to be excluded to protect Johnson's feelings. Along with supporters she picketed the show's first day. Myra Hindley sent a letter from jail suggesting that her portrait be removed from the exhibition, reasoning that such action was necessary because the work was "a sole disregard not only for the emotional pain and trauma that would inevitably be experienced by the families of the Moors victims but also the families of any child victim." Despite all the protest the painting remained hanging. Windows at Burlington House, the academy's home, were smashed and two demonstrators hurled ink and eggs at the picture as a result, requiring it to be removed and restored. It was put back on display behind
Perspex Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...
and guarded by security men. In a press conference on 16 September 1997, David Gordon, Secretary of the Royal Academy commented on the controversial portrait: "The majority view inside the Academy was that millions and millions of images of Myra Hindley have been reproduced in newspapers and magazines. Books have been written about the murders. Television programmes have been made. Hindley's image is in the public domain; part of our consciousness; an awful part of our recent social history; a legitimate subject for journalism – and for art." The show was extremely popular with the general public, attracting over 300,000 visitors during its run, helped by the media attention which the strong subject matter had received. The BBC said it featured "gory images of dismembered limbs and explicit pornography".(30 December 1997)
"Entertainment: Sensational hit for Royal Academy"
''BBC News''. Retrieved 7 April 2020.


Berlin

''Sensation'' was shown at the Berlin's
Hamburger Bahnhof Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart is the former Train station#Terminus, terminus of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstrasse in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as ...
museum (30 September 1998 – 30 January 1999) and proved so popular that it was extended past its original closing date of 28 December 1998. For art critic Nicola Kuhn from ''Der Tagesspiegel'', there was "no sensation about Sensation". She claimed that the Berlin audience found the yBa's work "more sad and serious than irreverent, funny and dazzling"Hatton, Rita and Walker, John. (2010). ''Supercollector: A critique of Charles Saatchi'' (4th ed.), (unknown page number). Institute of Artology. Retrieved 8 April 2020.


New York City

The exhibition was shown in New York City at the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
from 2 October 1999 to 9 January 2000. The New York City show was met with instant protest, centering on ''
The Holy Virgin Mary ''The Holy Virgin Mary'' is a mixed media painting created by Chris Ofili in 1996 that utilizes elephant dung and pornographic images. It was one of the works included in the '' Sensation'' exhibition in London, Berlin and New York in 1997– ...
'' by
Chris Ofili Christopher Ofili, (born 10 October 1968) is a British painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was Turner Prize-winner and one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in ...
, which had not provoked this reaction in London. While the press reported that the piece was "smeared", "splattered", or "stained" with elephant dung,Friedlander, Jennifer. (2008)
''Feminine look: Sexuation, spectatorship, subversion''
(p. 88). SUNY Press: Albany, New York.
Ofili's work in fact showed a carefully rendered black
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
decorated with a resin-covered lump of elephant dung. The figure is also surrounded by small collaged images of female genitalia from pornographic magazines; these seemed from a distance to be the traditional
cherubim A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden o ...
. New York City Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General fr ...
, who had seen the work in the catalogue but not in the show, called it "sick stuff" and threatened to withdraw the annual $7 million City Hall grant from the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
hosting the show, because " u don't have a right to government subsidy for desecrating somebody else's religion."
Cardinal John O'Connor John Joseph O'Connor (January 15, 1920 – May 3, 2000) was an American Catholic Archbishop of New York from 1984 until his death in 2000, and was made a cardinal in 1985. O'Connor previously served as a U.S. Navy chaplain (1952 to 1979 ...
, the
Archbishop of New York The Archbishop of New York is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, who is responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encomp ...
, said, "one must ask if it is an attack on religion itself," and the president of America's biggest group of Orthodox Jews, Mandell Ganchrow, called it "deeply offensive".Davies, Hugh & Fenton, Ben. (2 October 1999). Whiff of sensation hits New York. ''The Daily Telegraph''. William A. Donohue, President of the
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international instituti ...
, said the work "induces revulsion". Giuliani started a lawsuit to evict the museum, and Arnold Lehman, the museum director, filed a federal lawsuit against Giuliani for a breach of the
First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
.
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
spoke up for the museum, as did the New York Civil Liberties Union. The editorial board of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' said, Giuliani's stance "promises to begin a new Ice Age in New York's cultural affairs."Rapp, Christopher. (25 October 1999). Dung Deal – Brooklyn Museum of Art's 'Sensation' exhibition". ''National Review''. The paper also carried a full-page advertisement in support signed by over 100 actors, writers and artists, including
Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
,
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...
,
Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American writer, journalist and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least ...
,
Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
,
Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...
and
Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...
. Ofili, who is Roman Catholic, said, "elephant dung in itself is quite a beautiful object." The
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
passed a nonbinding resolution to end federal funding for the museum on 3 October 1999, and New York City did stop funding to the Brooklyn Museum. On 1 November, federal judge
Nina Gershon Nina Gershon (born October 16, 1940) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 at the recommendation of Senator Daniel Patrick ...
ordered the City not only to restore the funding that was denied to the museum, but also to refrain from continuing its ejectment action. On 16 December 1999, a 72-year-old man was arrested for criminal mischief after smearing the Ofili painting with white paint, which was soon removed.(February 2000)
Vandal Attacks Ofili Madonna
''Art in America'' (via Wayback Machine). Retrieved 10 April 2020.
The museum produced a yellow stamp, saying the artworks on show "may cause shock, vomiting, confusion, panic, euphoria and anxiety." and Ofili's painting was shown behind a Plexiglass screen, guarded by a museum attendant and an armed police officer. Jeffrey Hogrefe, art critic for the ''
New York Observer New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
'', commented about the museum, "They wanted to get some publicity and they got it. I think it was pretty calculated." The editor-in-chief of the New York City '' Art & Auction'' magazine, Bruce Wolmer, said: "When the row eventually fades the only smile will be on the face of Charles Saatchi, a master self-promoter." In 2021, Lehman published a memoir about his experience of the episode entitled, ''SENSATION: the Madonna, the Mayor, the Media, and the First Amendment''.Lehman, Arnold. (2021). ''SENSATION: the Madonna, the Mayor, the Media, and the First Amendment.'' London and New York: Merrell.


Australia

The show was scheduled to open in June 1999 at the
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
, but was cancelled with the director, Brian Kennedy, saying that, although it was due to be funded by the Australian government, it was "too close to the market" since finance for the Brooklyn exhibition included $160,000 from Saatchi, who owned the work; $50,000 from
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
, who had sold work for Saatchi; and $10,000 from dealers of many of the artists.Vogel, Carol. (1 December 1999)
Australian Museum cancels controversial art show
''The New York Times''. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
Kennedy said he was unaware of this when he accepted the show. Saatchi's contribution, the largest single one, was not disclosed by the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, until it appeared in court documents. Similarly, when the show opened in London at the Royal Academy, there had been criticisms that it would raise the value of the work.


Artists exhibited in ''Sensation''


YBAs


Other artists from the Saatchi collection


Installation photos from the Brooklyn Museum Archive

File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 3.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 1.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 2.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 4.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 5.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 7.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 17.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 8.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 9.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 10.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 11.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 12.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 6.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 13.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 14.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 15.jpg File:Sensation Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Brooklyn Museum 16.jpg


References


Further reading

* Collings, Matthew. (1997). Blimey! : from Bohemia to Britpop : the London Artworld from Francis Bacon to Damien Hirst. 2nd ed. Cambridge, England: 21 Publishing Ltd. * Rosenthal, Norman ''et al.'' (1998). ''Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection''. April 1998. Thames and Hudson: London. * Hirst, Damien. (2001). Damien Hirst pictures from the Saatchi Gallery. Booth-Clibborn Editions: London. * Legge, Elizbeth. (2000). "Reinventing Derivation: Roles, Stereotypes, and ‘Young British Art.’” Representations (Berkeley, Calif.) 71, no. 71 (2000): 1–23. * Lehman, Arnold. (2021). ''SENSATION: the Madonna, the Mayor, the Media and the First Amendment''. Merrell: London and New York. * Rothfield, Lawrence (Ed). (2001). ''Unsettling 'Sensation': Arts-Policy from the Brooklyn Museum of Art Controversy''. Rutgers University Press. * Stallabrass, Julian. (2006). ''High Art Lite: British Art in the 1990s''. Verso: London and New York.


External links


Links to the various artists involved in SensationDavid Bowie makes a virtual exhibition of Sensation available on his websiteBrooklyn Museum Archive Record of Sensation
* Berlin Hamburger Bahnhof Museum – website and page on the Sensation exhibition in German: {{DEFAULTSORT:Sensation (Exhibition Conceptual art Installation art Contemporary art exhibitions Damien Hirst Young British Artists Art exhibitions in London Art exhibitions in the United States 1997 in London