In 1990, Sarah Lucas and Henry Bond took over a cavernous multi-story industrial warehouse in London’s Docklands, giving themselves and a handful of other rising Goldsmith graduates a vast floor each to fill with their work. Described by critics as a display of ‘calculated anarchy’ in rooms far larger than any gallery would dream of offering them, the controversial East Country Yard Show was just one example of the enterprising antics of the newly-bonded YBAs, who were on the cusp of forcing British art into a daring new era of openness and creativity.
One of these artists was the soon-to-be stratospheric Gary Hume, who presented a series of hauntingly beautiful pieces made from forest-green industrial tarpaulin used to cover lorries on the docks. Entitled ‘Bays’, they were slashed and sewn to resemble entryways and windows in the style of his famous ‘Door’ paintings, which infused human emotion into abstract hospital doors rendered in candy-coloured Dulux paint. Unlike his widely-exhibited ‘Doors’ however, Hume hadn’t returned to ‘Bays’ until 2024, when he received a message from Burberry’s creative director, Daniel Lee.
