Angus Fairhurst

1966 - 2008

Angus Fairhurst was born in Kent, England, and was an influential artist associated primarily with the Goldsmiths College group, sometimes known as the ‘Freeze Generation', which emerged in the late 1980s. In February 1988, as a second-year student, Fairhurst organised a small group exhibition at the Bloomsbury Gallery of the University of London Institute of Education; it included, alongside his own work, art by fellow students Mat Collishaw, Abigail Lane and Damien Hirst. This was a kind of precursory event for the more dynamic and famous Freeze exhibition of summer 1988, curated by Hirst, in which he also participated. It was this exhibition that coined this group of artists the tag of Young British Artists (YBAs) and their provocative, inventive and controversial approach has since influenced contemporary British art for the past two decades.

During his tragically short career Fairhurst experimented in a range of different mediums including painting, sculpture, performance and installation. His work was imbued with a subtle wit that touched on subjects such as the ubiquity and power of advertising and the mass media, the nature of the self, and the emptiness of expression.