The defining moment for the contemporary London arts scene was Freeze, the 1988 warehouse exhibition organised by Damien Hirst. Up to that point, the traditional career path for an artist in London would involve several years in relative obscurity with limited sales, possibly subsidised by teaching work. The patronage of Charles Saatchi as a collector of Young British Artists (YBAs), meant that it became possible for artists in their early twenties to have viable careers. Following on from Freeze, there was an explosion of similar exhibitions in non-traditional gallery space - often temporarily vacant commercial space in the near East End.
Socially the London arts scene is organised around private views, exhibition openings and the 'after party', the latter usually held at a club or studio space. Under the patronage of Damien Hirst, the Groucho Club in Soho became an important hangout for those wanting to associate with the London arts scene. Blacks and Soho House are also favoured while the pub Charlie Wright's in Hoxton is a favourite for many artists.
Location
The traditional geographical focus of many of London's artists in the mid-1980s, had been the East End and Wapping - due to the availability of cheap studio space and proximity to the Whitechapel Art Gallery. With the development of Docklands as an extension of the finance sector, many artists began to seek alternative accommodation. Using proceeds from the sales of paintings in the early 1990s, artist Gary Hume purchased a number of properties in Hoxton Square. The area quickly became a focus for the YBAs and in a short period has been transformed with Jay Jopling opening a gallery there in 2000. As property prices around Hoxton and Shoreditch have risen artists have moved further north into the Borough of Hackney where the cost of living is relatively cheap. In 2004 the main concentrations of young artists to be found in London are in Stoke Newington near Kingsland Road and in Clapton.
The defining moment for the contemporary Londonartscene was Freeze, the 1988 warehouse exhibition organised by Damien Hirst.
Socially that Londonartscene is organised around private views, exhibition openings and the 'after party', the latter usually held at a club, local pub or studio space.
Also, there is a large number of loosely associated scenes, such as a sound artscene, film makers, collaborative artist groups, studio collectives, the live artscene etc. who all put on their own events, exhibitions, concerts, screenings and shows.
Scenes from the Bible were depicted, framed with the ancient patterns.
British art in the later Middle Ages was part of the International style and often as such its painting and art in that period is not distinctive to much of other northern European art.
A notable event in British art history is the adoption of Protestantism by Henry VIII of England in 1536 and the subsequent seizure of property belonging to the Catholic church by the state (See Dissolution of the Monasteries).
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