Sensation (exhibition)
Sensation was a major exhibition of works by the Young British Artists from 1997.
It took place from September 18th to December 28th at the Royal Academy of Arts in London . The 110 works were viewed by over 350,000 people during the three-month exhibition. The exhibition, which is part of Charles Saatchi's collection , was later shown in Berlin ( Hamburger Bahnhof ) and New York ( Brooklyn Museum ). Sensation received a lot of media attention due to controversial works of art.
London
Sensation was curated for the Royal Academy of Arts in London by long-time exhibition secretary Sir Norman Rosenthal and collector Charles Saatchi. Even before the opening there was a media controversy over the painting Myra by Marcus Harvey . The artist used a police photo of the child murderer Myra Hindley , which was often printed in British newspapers, as a template . The picture consists of many small handprints. The organization "Mothers Against Murder and Aggression" and relatives of the victims demanded the removal of the picture from the exhibition and protested in front of Burlington House , the seat of the Royal Academy of Arts. The painting was damaged by two ink and egg attacks.
Berlin
Sensation was on view in the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin from September 30, 1998 to January 17, 1999. During this time Charles Saatchi had works by the Young British Artists valued at £ 1.6 million. This caused negative reactions from the media. Charles Saatchi and main sponsor Christie’s have been credited with a commercial interest in Sensation.
new York
From October 2, 1999 to January 9, 2000, Sensation was shown at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. The then mayor Rudolph Giuliani caused a media controversy by describing Chris Ofili's work The Holy Virgin Madonna as blasphemous and sick. The painting shows the Blessed Virgin with dark skin. Ofili used elephant ending and excerpts from pornographic magazines for his portrayal, among other things. Even before the opening, Rudolph Giuliani called for the exhibition to be canceled and threatened to cancel the city subsidies for the museum. George W. Bush, Hillary and Bill Clinton and David Bowie, among others, took part in the debate. On December 16, 1999, the painting was attacked with white paint.
Canberra
As a result of the debates in New York, Berlin and London, the director of the National Gallery of Australia , Brian Kennedy, canceled the exhibition Sensation, which was planned for June 2000.
Participating artists
The following artists took part in the exhibition:
Exhibition photos from the Brooklyn Museum Archives
See also
- Exhibition Freeze (1988)
literature
- Muir, Gregor: Lucky Art. The Rise & Fall of Young British Art. Aurum Press, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-8451-3528-7 .
- Rosenberg, Lela Capri: The meaning of Sensation: Young British art in the nineties. Dissertation, Duke University, Michigan 2008.
- National Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage (eds.): Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection . Cantz, Ostfildern 1998, ISBN 3-89322-958-2 .
Web links
- David Walsh : Notes on the controversial "Sensation" exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. World Socialist Web Site, November 3, 1999, accessed April 17, 2013 .
- Information and images from Sensation in the Brooklyn Museum Archives
Individual evidence
- ↑ Under the eyes of the murderess. In: Der Spiegel. No. 40, 1997, pp. 254-257.
- ↑ Under the eyes of the murderess. In: Der Spiegel. No. 11, 1999, pp. 280-282.
- ↑ Rosenberg, Lela Capri: Dissertation , p. 31.
- ↑ Sensational exhibition: David Bowie gives virtual support. In: Spiegel Online. October 2, 1999.
- ↑ Muir: Lucky Art. 2009, pp. 228-230.
- ^ Australian Museum Cancels Controversial Art Show. In: The New York Times. December 1, 1999.
- ^ Artists by Movement: The Sensation Show. Artcyclopedia, accessed April 17, 2013 .