A prominent British artist and a leading figure in the Young British Artists (YBA) movement, which emerged in London in the late 1980s, Sarah Lucas is known for her provocative, confrontational, and darkly humorous approach to art. Working across sculpture, photography, and large-scale installation, her art has a distinct punk, DIY aesthetic. It subverts social norms, challenges the patriarchal gaze, and explores the raw, often grotesque realities of the human body, gender roles, class, and sexuality.
The portrait assemblage, Maggi the Magi, strikingly depicts Lucas’ longtime friend and fellow artist, Maggi Hambling. It highlights a central theme in both artists’ lives: their decades-long friendship, creative dialogue, and shared habit of smoking. Using cigarettes, or fags, to capture Hambling’s unruly curls, expressive eyes, and stylish bow tie, Lucas transforms a commonplace, charged material into a deeply personal, humorous tribute.
Image: Sarah Lucas, Maggi the Magi, 2026. Brown paper, cigarettes, MDF frame, 133.7 x 119.7 x 2 cm / 52 5/8 x 47 1/8 x 3/4 in.