CELEBRITY SKIN.

The 1990’s was an interesting year for all aspects of culture, from music to film to art and new designers.
If anything, it was the decade in which everything we love today, came together.
Pop stars were born.
Film stars were made.
Musicians started their string of success.
Artists grew.

One of the things the nineties could be most known for is music.

When I think about 90’s music, I think about teen pop stars, whereas if I picture the nineties now I would instantly think ‘Grunge’. The 90’s saw the break-out of young-teen, American, perky things like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake.
I wasn’t around when they were singing and dancing state-side but I do remember when they decided to waddle across the pond, and dominate the charts here. I suppose the 90’s really did see the years of the ‘perfect pop star’. You only have to hear Britney Spears’s ‘Hit me baby, one more time’ to realise that.
The 90’s was also the decade of the boy band.We had Boy Zone, East 17 and the British pop sensation Take That! Whilst stateside they had, N’sync and Backstreet Boys. Backstreet boys to this day are one of the biggest selling artists of all time selling an astonishing 130 million records world-wide…
I think Take That were THE boy band of the 90’s. Everybody loved them. Everybody went to see them and almost everyone had a soft spot for Mark Owen. Then in 1996 they heartbreakingly announced they had split up, leaving thousands of fans crushed. Ten years later they officially announced a reunion. They came back more chiselled and demure yet better than ever. They are one of the only few bands that have kept their long-devoted fan base. Now back with Robbie Williams they continue to dominate the U.K Pop chart.
Ballads were a huge thing for the 1990‘s. Celion Dion didn’t seem to want to leave the public eye for like, forever during this period.
In fairness, ‘My heart will go on.’’ is a real tear-jerker. (Titanic…not so much.)


And then about 3,000 miles away in Seattle, Grunge was born. Muddled-up Kurt Cobain and co were just having a nice time jamming away in the South-West of America, (and supporting Sonic Youth on tour.) Unknowing they were going to start something quite beautiful (depressing.)
They managed to expand the definition of rock, going on to write
songs that would convey the feelings of the modern day youth for years.

“I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn back”

-‘Heart-shaped Box’ -Nirvana.

It took Nirvana a while to develop a mainstream following. The release of ‘Smells like teen spirit’’ gained the band unexpected success. It is now the bands most highly acclaimed song. Bringing the sub-genre of alternative rock ‘Grunge’ with them. Cobain found himself a target in the media with people naming him the “Spokesman of a generation” a title which he was quite uncomfortable being the bearer of.
Nirvana were a short-lived band, when, in 1994 Cobain ended his life. There has been many theories and speculations as to what happened that day. What lives now is a band that imprinted their music on to so many peoples lives. They brought their music, their gloomy-rock, their passion for performance, baggy clothing and moodiness with them and then left…

The 1990’s was an excellent decade for contemporary art.

The wonders of Britain decided to come out and do something different. Artists like Gary Hume, Damien Hirst, Jenny Saville, Mark Quinn and Tracey Emin. All part of the ‘Young British Artists’ (YBas) (A group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London.) Gained lots of mutual acquaintances and exhibited in similar art events such as ‘Freeze’ and ‘Brilliant!’.
In my opinion, The 90’s was in someway the decade of the ‘Shock’ factor. Damien Hirst’s ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the mind of someone living’ caused a lot of uproar in the media. This original piece of art-work consisted of a Tiger Shark persevered in formaldehyde in a vitrine. Hirst had said he wanted something ‘”Big enough to eat you.”
You could say all of Hirst’s work is made to alarm the viewer, centered around offensive yet trite subjects. Hirst has been criticised for plagiarism in the past as his work, such as his ‘For the Love of God’ (A platinum diamond encrusted human skull) is similar to one that the artist John Lekay had made in the early 90’s. I think Hirst is a brilliant character. I suppose his work has no substance beyond the initial shock, but he will never stop until someone tells him to and I think that is brilliant.


Another artist no stranger to criticism is Tracey Emin, the wonderful little weirdo that she is! A true pioneer of modern art, though her work is thought provoking and somewhat unsettling, it is very hard to not find yourself curious about her work. Her art explores personal and biographical themes, through paint and installation pieces to illustrations and textiles. I quite like it when artists receive a lot of flack, I like how people begin to talk when they hear/see something that’s not aesthetically pleasing. I like how everyone has an opinion on Emin’s work. She is infact, like Marmite. You either love or hate her/her work. I love her work. Quite a few of her pieces have gained critical acclaim, one iconic piece being the 2004 tent she titled:        
                                      “Everyone I have ever slept with.’’
This was basically a small tent, filled with the names of all the people Emin had slept with. Totalling 102 names. The people included friends, family, drinking partners and lovers. It is said that the names were all people that Emin had sex with. Emin later stated how the title of her piece was to be taken literal. I think she is an artist that will never hold-back. Her brutally honest work and her thought process make her a brilliant British icon of today.When you think of Nineties fashion you think of blue jeans, baggy clothing, leggings, lycra and basics, such as the all-American brand Calvin Klein. Calvin Klein had a massive stamp on the 90’s with it’s ready-to-wear, sportswear, underwear, menswear and womanswear and fragrances. Klein once stated that:
          “It’s important to not confuse simplicity with uninteresting.”

-Calvin Klein

For me the 1990’s was the year of new artists pushing boundaries, underpinning rebellion and giving people a voice. You could be a young pop-star and have all your dreams come true. It was ok to be a melancholy teenager drifting through life. It was acceptable for an artist to make a self portrait sculpture of their face out of 4.5 litres of their own blood. The 1990’s was about sending out the message that it was ok to be yourself and do what you wanted to do.