1990年代的英國當代藝術凸顯出社會文化、創作風格與自我批判之交互關係，猶如青年藝術鮮明的風格標誌，正是一群藝術家群聚的共同意識彼此相互影響所致。跨越歷史軸線下，此時期之藝術面貌百家爭鳴，前衛意識亦蓬勃發展，這群創作潮流下的yBa藝術家，例如：達敏‧赫斯特（Damien Hirst）、翠西‧艾敏（Tracey Emin）、莎拉‧盧卡絲（Sarah Lucas）、科妮莉亞‧派克（Cornelia Parker）、克里斯丁‧波爾蘭（Christine Borland）、查普曼兄弟（Jake & Dinos Chapman）……等創作者，代表著表現獨特的指標人物。他們如何凝聚創作力量而型塑藝術媒材與情境氛圍？其作品的獨特性是否在於極簡手法，抑或僅於觀念形式？如何在社會道德規範體制之下，去突破自我困境、反諷真實生活？藝術作品的顯性語意與隱性意涵之間，該如何取捨，創新之意如何跳脫舊有侷限？除了探索時代脈絡下的藝術潮流之外，鏈結於社會意識、文化研究之探究，提供另一層次的創作思考。因此，本文以歷史發展脈絡和人文座標為基礎，進而探討文化研究與意識型態之關係，並試圖勾勒出英國1990年代的當代藝術風格和特色。

British Contemporary Art highlights a mutual influence between the Society, Culture, Art Practice and Critic, as the distinct symbol of yBa which represents a congregated common awareness of a group of artists in 1990s. The major artists, such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Cornelia Parker, Christine Borland and Chapman Brothers etc. They became known for their openness to materials and processes. How to form together the art medium and the situational atmosphere when crossing under the axis of the history? Is the singularity of an artwork lies on its minimalism or its conceptual form? How do artists overcome their own strait, and also present their real life? How to be innovative yet also able to liberate from the limitations between the dominant semantics and the hidden meaning of the art practice? Besides the various trends of the art movements, historical meanings, and the discussions of the analysis of the image of the artwork, it is absolutely necessary to bring together the cultural study and the social conscious, yet also perceive them in the context of the era. This essay employs the foundation of the historical context and the coordinates of the time and space, in order to explore the relationship between the ideologies, the cultural study, and the artistic trait and the style of the era of British Contemporary art in 1990s.