Diverging Collectives: Artist-Run Spaces versus Warehouse Shows: Comparative models of art production and cooperation among young British artists

Abstract

The paper addresses the case of artist-run spaces and warehouse shows in the United Kingdom between the 1980s and 1990s, a time when autonomous group shows and independent artist collectives sprawled particularly thanks to the engagement of a new generation of artists, among whom were found later celebrities such as Damien Hirst and Douglas Gordon. It will be argued that both artist-run spaces and warehouse shows were feasible solutions for young authors against art market barriers and economic crisis, although they held structural and organisational differences that would affect aesthetic outcomes and present art history with a shift in the model of the art collective.