Jake and Dinos Chapman

Jake and Dinos Chapman
grahamc99 from London, UK · CC BY 2.0 · source
Name	Jake and Dinos Chapman
Caption	Jake (left) and Dinos Chapman
Birth date	1966 (Jake), 1962 (Dinos)
Birth place	Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Jake); London (Dinos)
Nationality	British
Known for	Contemporary art, installation, printmaking, sculpture
Training	Royal College of Art
Notable works	Hell, Insult to Injury

Jake and Dinos Chapman are British visual artists known for collaborative work in provocative sculpture, installation, drawing, printmaking, and mixed-media projects. They rose to prominence during the 1990s as controversial figures associated with the Young British Artists movement, exhibiting alongside contemporaries and engaging institutions across London, New York, Berlin, and international biennials. Their practice intersects with themes explored by artists and institutions such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Charles Saatchi, Tate Gallery, and White Cube.

Early life and education

Both brothers pursued art education in England and became part of networks connected to prominent institutions and figures. Jake was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, while Dinos was born in London; both later attended the Royal College of Art, a training ground shared with artists like Gilbert & George, David Hockney, Rachel Whiteread, and Martin Creed. Their early formation placed them in proximity to galleries such as Saatchi Gallery and curators including Charles Saatchi and Nicholas Serota, and within cultural scenes overlapping with exhibitions at Institute of Contemporary Arts, Serpentine Gallery, and Tate Modern.

Artistic collaboration and style

The brothers' collaborative practice foregrounds appropriation, satire, and grotesque reworking of historical and popular imagery, aligning conceptually with the provocations of Marina Abramović, Andres Serrano, Paul McCarthy, Cornelia Parker, and Yoko Ono. They employ sculpture, printmaking, and installation techniques related to methods used by Louise Bourgeois, Tony Cragg, Rachel Whiteread, Cornelia Parker, and Anish Kapoor while referencing visual culture traced through figures such as Francis Bacon, Goya, Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Their iconography often reconfigures motifs familiar from collections at institutions such as The British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Louvre, Museum of Modern Art, and National Gallery.

Major works and exhibitions

Notable projects include expansive installations and series that engaged major exhibition venues and art events. Their controversial reworking of Goya's Disasters of War in Insult to Injury was shown in contexts resonant with venues like Tate Britain, Hamburger Bahnhof, Centre Pompidou, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and international biennials including the Venice Biennale, São Paulo Art Biennial, Berlin Biennale, and Documenta. Earlier shock-driven displays placed them near the market phenomena associated with Saatchi Gallery exhibitions and auctions at houses like Christie's and Sotheby's. Solo and group shows at spaces such as Whitechapel Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Hayward Gallery, Stedelijk Museum, Kunsthalle Zurich, and Palais de Tokyo amplified their profile alongside peers including Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Andreas Gursky, and Ai Weiwei.

Controversies and critical reception

Their work provoked debates among critics, curators, and public figures, intersecting with controversies similar to those surrounding Chris Ofili, Stuart Pearson Wright, Samantha Cameron-era cultural discussions, and public funding debates involving Arts Council England. Critics and commentators in outlets tied to figures like Robert Hughes, Jerry Saltz, Jeanette Winterson, Grayson Perry, and institutions such as The Guardian, The Telegraph, New York Times, and Frieze have variously praised and condemned their approaches. Their use of offensive imagery and collaboration with artisans evoked parallels with disputes linked to Nan Goldin and Andres Serrano; legal and ethical questions raised by collectors, trustees, and boards at institutions including Tate Modern, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and municipal councils intensified public debate.

Influence and legacy

The Chapmans influenced subsequent generations of artists and debates about shock, reproduction, and the role of satire in contemporary art, affecting practices by artists linked to Glenn Brown, Jake Chapman (solo projects disallowed from linking), Ben Quinn (as curator figure), Ed Atkins, Oscar Murillo, Jordan Wolfson, and educational programmes at institutions like Goldsmiths, University of London, Central Saint Martins, and Royal College of Art. Their interventions contributed to institutional policies concerning acquisitions, display, and curatorial risk at museums such as Tate Britain, Museum of Modern Art, and V&A. Critical studies in catalogues and monographs from publishers and academic programmes at Courtauld Institute of Art have considered their legacy alongside scholarship on postmodernism, relational aesthetics and debates engaged by critics like Hal Foster and Rosalind Krauss.

Selected collections and commissions

Works by the brothers are held in public and private collections and have been commissioned or acquired by major museums and collectors. Collections include holdings at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, British Council Collection, Saatchi Collection, National Museum of Scotland, Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Walker Art Center, Hammer Museum, Fondazione Prada, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Basel, and regional museums across United Kingdom, Europe, and North America.

Category:British artists