Gary Hume is one of the original Young British Artists, graduating with Damien Hirst et al from Goldsmiths in 1988. Born in Kent in 1962, Hume is a glossy bright and bold painter. He paints on MDF in enamel paints. The large canvases are characterised by a half figurative, half abstract subject matter: faces without features, objects without details and so on. In fact the smooth two- dimensionality of the representational paintings are just compositions of geometric shapes. Hume paints with sensual colours and textures, his paintings have hard edges and depict clean and striking elements from Pop Art and mass-culture. He has made portraits of celebrity figures such as Tony Blackburn, Kate Moss and Patsy Kensit. In 1996 he was the British representative at the São Paulo Biennale and in the same year was nominated for the Turner Prize. In 1999 he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and has had numerous solo exhibitions.