Angus Fairhurst was born in Kent in 1966. A graduate of Canterbury Art College (1985–1986) and Goldsmiths College (1989) – where he met peer and lifelong friend Damien Hirst –Fairhurst is characterised by a distinctively absurd humour, his technical versatility and a particular affection for gorillas in sculptural form.
A discreet, to the point of being referred to as ‘forgotten’, figure of the initially antagonising Young British Artists (YBA) movement, he was nonetheless an influential voice of contemporary art, alongside his close friends and frequent collaborators Hirst, as mentioned, but also Sarah Lucas, Gary Hume, Julian Opie and Tracy Emin. Bold and irreverent, this generation nonetheless paid homage to yesterday’s trail blazers, such as Michael Craig-Martin and Francis Bacon.
In 1988, shortly before graduating, Fairhurst organised an exhibition of student works. This show is now generally regarded as the precursor to the YBA breakout exhibition Freeze, which took place a few months later, and in which Fairhurst was once again involved. National and international interest promptly followed.
Slightly to the spotlight’s side, Fairhurst developed a unique and consistent vernacular, using comedy and forms of distortion to engage the viewer and allow himself to be critical (of society, politics and consumerism) without coming across as preachy. Using the Gorilla figure, Fairhurst perhaps personifies – or at least challenges – himself, the contrast between the powerful animal and his own frail frame, which always amused the artist. His technical arsenal, which initially consisted of painting and sculpture, grew to include video, photography and conceptual performances.
Fairhurst tragically took his own life in 2008, on the closing day of his third solo exhibition housed by Sadie Coles HQ in London, following a 10-hour train ride to Bridge of Orchy in Scotland. Death was a reoccurring theme in the YBA’s catalogue of tropes, from Hirst’s use of carcasses to Whiteread’s claustrophobic filled-in spaces. This generation was nonetheless choked by their peer’s passing, and critics tend to consider Fairhurst’s suicide as an end to the YBA’s ‘carefree’ era.
