Jake Chapman was born in Cheltenham in 1966 and studied at North East London Polytechnic. Dinos Chapman was born in London in 1962 and studied at Ravensbourne College of Art in London. Both studied at The Royal College of Art, London in 1990.

Jake and Dinos Chapman’s work explores hard hitting subjects such as war, politics, religion and morality while injecting their own brand of subversive humour and energy. Known mainly for working in the medium of sculpture, the Chapmans also cross over into installation, drawing, painting and printmaking.

The Chapmans first came to public attention in 1993 with The Disasters of War exhibition. Using plastic model figurines, the brothers recreated a series of tableaux inspired by the eighteenth century artist Francisco Goya’s famous series of etchings of the Franco-Spanish Napoleonic wars. This fascination with the Spanish artist has continued with their Insult to Injury series included in their Turner Prize nomination exhibition in 2003 at Tate Britain, London. My Giant Colouring Book (2004) is a portfolio comprising twenty-one etchings where the Chapmans unleash their fantastical imaginations on what should be a safe and harmless childrens’ colouring book. Referring to art historical iconography from Goya to Surrealism, the brothers twist the pages into a darker context. The ascending numbered dots appear to have been followed correctly but upon close inspection reveal images beyond the realms of their intention; what would have been a cuddly teddy bear, becomes a severed monster with it’s innards spilling out; a hand-maiden bearing freshly picked flowers is suddenly footsteps away from an exploding house; and a sea creature in the ocean becomes a shelter for a pair of cold monkeys.

Jake and Dinos Chapman’s work gained widespread media interest as part of the seminal group exhibition Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi collection, shown in London, Berlin and New York, 1997-9. They have exhibited extensively and their solo shows include Kestnergesellschaft Hanover, 2008; Tate Britain, 2007; Tate Liverpool, 2006; White Cube, 2005 and The Art Ginza Space, Tokyo, 2000.

Made in Britain Contemporary Art from the British Council Collection 1980-2010,China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Corporation 2010. ISBN 978-7-5059-7014-4.

Glossary

  • Contemporary

    Existing or coming into being at the same period; of today or of the present. The term that designates art being made today.

  • Drawing

    The depiction of shapes and forms on a flat surface chiefly by means of lines although colour and shading may also be included. Materials most commonly used are pencil, ink, crayon, charcoal, chalk and pastel, although other materials, including paint, can be used in combination.

  • Installation

    An artwork comprised of many and various elements of miscellaneous materials (see mixed media), light and sound, which is conceived for and occupies an entire space, gallery or site. The viewer can often enter or walk around the installation. Installations may only exist as long as they are installed, but can be re-created in different sites. Installation art emerged in the 1960s out of Environmental Art (works of art which are three-dimensional environments), but it was not until the 1970s that the term came into common use and not until the late 1980s that artists started to specialise in this kind of work, creating a genre of ‘Installation Art’. The term can also be applied to the arrangement of selected art works in an exhibition.

  • Medium

    Refers to either the material used to create a work of art, craft or design, i.e. oil, bronze, earthenware, silk; or the technique employed i.e. collage, etching, carving. In painting the medium refers to the binder for the pigment, e.g. oil, egg, acrylic dispersion. The plural form is media.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.

  • Portfolio

    A set of pictures (as drawings, photographs or prints) either bound in book form or loose in a folder. These can be by the same artist or individual works by a selection of artists. The term also refers to the folder which holds the set.

  • Sculpture

    A three-dimensional work of art. Such works may be carved, modelled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, relief, and made in a huge variety of media. Contemporary practice also includes live elements, as in Gilbert & George 'Living Sculpture' as well as broadcast work, radio or sound sculpture.

See in

  • Art Project

Portfolios