Sarah LUCAS

Representing Great Britain this year, the audacious Sarah LUCAS (b. 1962) made waves at the Venice Biennale. Her yellow pavilion with organic and ambiguous sculptures has replaced the former Young British Artist in the limelight. It just so happens that this renewed visibility for Lucas coincides with a concerted drive by Christie’s, the world’s leading auction house, to include important YBA works in its Contemporary art sales. Several of the YBAs – Chris OFILI, Malcolm MORLEY, Dinos & Jake CHAPMAN – were crowned with new records in the recent sales at the end of June 2015. Sarah LUCAS was also in the summer sales catalogue with a remarkable work titled Drag-On, an imposing dragon sculpture made of cigarettes: earmarked at between $500,000 and $700,000, the work failed to sell. However, collectors probably foresaw that conservation of a monster made of paper and tobacco would not be easy. In that price range, buyers prefer to invest in more ‘permanent’ works.