Sarah Lucas is notoriously known as the bad girl of Brit Art.

Lucas does use letterform through her work but she mostly observes gestures and uses them through out her art. An example is the sculpture “Get Hold of This” 1994-5, which is a plaster form of two arms resting on each other with one arm up with the hand clenched like the fist. This is easily recognisable to any of us, and gives the effect of anger, arguing and fighting. Lucas uses many common gestures, which are renowned throughout today’s society. Another example is “Receptacle of Lurid Things” 1991. It is a wax model of a middle finger by itself. This is widely known by the public for being “F*ck off”. Lucas does not need to use words as she communicates through gestures, which can be recognised by everyone. They are not necessarily Lucas’s fists or her finger as what she is trying to say is, is that sometimes they are our fists and our fingers, as we will all feel like this sometimes.

Lucas has used Letterforms in many of her works. A renowned piece of hers is “Is Suicide Genetic?”1996. It is a single image of a grossly dirty toilet with the question painted in brown Is Suicide genetic? It is a photograph taken wholly for its grimness, but often when seen is extremely thought provoking. Another image, which consists of letterform, is the print “Complete Arsehole”1993. It is a picture of Lucas from behind with nothing else but a white t-shirt on. Across the back of the t-shirt just above her bottom is the words complete arsehole. This a common insult that women often use for men, and so Lucas incorporated the idea of the term with an actual bottom.  

Lucas’s work, I can agree is pretty crude and lurid, but she not only explores communication by words, but by gestures, colour and image. The meanings to her work are often simple and relative to everyday life.

Lucas did many prints to do with newspaper articles that where related to topics such as sex. Her work is often questioned about if it is meant to make you think of sex. But Lucas more often not based her work on how sex degrades the true meaning of the body and how both men and women are seen more as objects and meat than what they really are.