Sensation - Young British Artists From the Saatchi Collection

Artists: Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Rachel Whiteread, Marc Quinn, Glenn Brown, Jenny Saville, Gavin Turk, Yinka Shonibare, Gillian Wearing, Chris Ofili et al.
Author: Norman Rosenthal et al.
Publisher: Royal Academy
Date: 1997 
Condition: From the 1999 US reprint edition, this copy is in very good condition, with the usual handling marks to the cover and mild tanning of the edges; very clean and tidy inside, the spine unbroken and apparently very little used 

Although it is almost thirty years old now, the cover image of this exhibition catalogue still provokes an immediate reaction.

But it isn't just about shock. This exhibition brought a whole generation of young British artists to the wider public's notice and seems to sum up much of the art scene in London in the 1990s. 

As there seems to be a big blast of nostalgia for the cultural scene of the 90s at the moment, it is maybe time to have a look once more through this document of its time and see just how many of the artists exhibited are still going strong three decades later. Deliberately provocative, it still feels like an important moment in British art, even though some of the artists are a bit more 'establishment' now. Why, Tracey Emin is now a Dame and an RA!