Zhiyong Jing

Jing Zhiyong "A Beacon" Contemporary Art Astronauts Series

2021

Born in 1982, Jing Zhiyong's creative work was predominantly inspired by the 1990s. A collective of artists working in the United Kingdom, who came to be known as the YBAs, or Young British Artists, defined the artistic culture of the 1990s. Affiliated loosely by their age and nationality, they were a varied collective of practitioners. A number of the YBAs attended the Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths in London, and were favoured by the ‘super collector’ of the time, Charles Saatchi. The most renowned member of the group is Damien Hirst, and other members included Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Gavin Turk, Sarah Lucas and Sam Taylor-Johnson (née Sam Taylor-Wood). The YBAs became known for their use of shock tactics and sensationalism, alongside their use of throwaway materials, wild lifestyles and an attitude that was defiant yet commercial. Due to the large amount of media coverage that they garnered, they dominated British art during the 1990s, and their work was epitomised in the group show ‘Sensation’. The art world was influenced by a number of trends throughout the decade, and was characterised by the derisive sculpture of Maurizio Cattelan, and sensitive, conceptual advancements as presented in the work of artists including Felix Gonzalez-Torres.