High Art Lite: The Rise and Fall of Young British Art (Revised and Expanded edition)

This searing book has become the authoritative account of the new British art of the 1990s, its legacy in the 21st century, and what it tells us about the fate of high art as a whole in contemporary society. High Art Lite provides a sustained analysis of the phenomenal success of YBAs, young British artists obsessed with commerce, mass media and the cult of personality - Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Marcus Harvey and Sarah Lucas, among others. In this fully revised and expanded edition, Julian Stallabrass explores how YBA lost its critical immunity in the new millennium, and looks at the ways in which figures such as Hirst, Emin, Wearing and Landy have altered their work in recent years.

A scathing and incisive critique of the contemporary art world, in an updated new edition.

This searing book has become the authoritative account of the new British art of the 1990s, its legacy in the 21st century, and what it tells us about the fate of high art in contemporary society. High Art Lite provides a sustained analysis of the phenomenal success of YBA, young British artists obsessed with commerce, mass media and the cult of personality – Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Marcus Harvey, Sarah Lucas, among others. In this fully revised and expanded edition, Julian Stallabrass explores how YBA lost its critical immunity in the new millennium, and looks at the ways in which figures such as Hirst, Emin, Wearing and Landy have altered their work in recent years.

A scathing and incisive critique of the contemporary art world, in an updated new edition. This extensively illustrated book is a lacerating account of the new British art scene which emerged in the 1990s, its legacy in the 21st century, and what it tells us about the fate of high art in contemporary society. High Art Lite takes a critical look at the phenomenal success of YBA, young British artists obsessed with commerce, mass media and the cult of personality--Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Marcus Harvey, Sarah Lucas, among others--and questions whether their success is at the price of dumbing down and selling out. In a new chapter, Stallabrass explains how YBA lost its critical immunity and explores the ways in which the leading YBA figures have altered their work in recent years 'High Art Lite' takes a critical look at British art of the 1990s and its legacy in the 21st century. It provides an analysis of the British art scene, exploring the reasons for its popularity and examines in detail the work of the leading figures