Author Description

Charles Saatchi's collection of young British artists is one of the most celebrated collections of contemporary art in the world. 'But is it art?' was a frequent cry during the mid-90s, when he exhibited the works of artists such as Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Gavin Turk and Marcus Harvey. Artists such as these soon fulfilled their promise and consolidated their reputations, vindicating Saatchi's enthusiasm and their inclusion in this eclectic group. The book explores the ideas, aspirations and attitudes that inform each artist and the way that they are manifested in the end product. This publication, long out of print, remains an essential record of 35 artists that were collected by Charles Saatchi during the 1990s and is being reprinted to celebrate the opening of the new Saatchi Gallery later this year. The book explores the ideas, aspirations and attitudes that inform each artist and the way that they are manifested in the end product. This publication, long out of print, remains an essential record of 35 artists that were collected by Charles Saatchi during the 1990s and is being reprinted to celebrate the opening of the new Saatchi Gallery later this year. 'Art today makes approaches towards the unknowable... artists reflect something both psychological and social off that gaze, something that may hint at the face the future will present. In this activity artist and critic are linked in an intimate collaboration. The artist makes unverifiable hypotheses or intuitive proposals about the unknown, and the critic drives out into the verbal open their networks of implications.' Thomas McEvilley, 'Father the void' in 'Tyne International: a new necessity' 1990, p.133. The name of this book is derived from Damien Hirst's extraordinary sculpture, 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,' 1992, a fourteen-foot tiger shark suspended in a tank of formaldehyde. It is appropriate that Hirst should introduce this a