Fiona Rae

British painter, contemporary visual artist and educator (b. 10 October 1963, Hong Kong). Fiona Rae became one of the few prolific female members of the Young British Artists group in the 1990s. She's an Elected RA (Royal Academician) and served as a Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy of Arts from 2011 to 2015, making her only the second female professor in the Academy's 240-year history. Fiona Rae was born in Hong Kong and spent her early childhood in Indonesia before settling in the UK in 1970. She attended an all-girls boarding school in Berkshire, Downe House, and later enrolled at Croydon College of Art (1983–84). Fiona continued studying at Goldsmiths College (84–87), earning her Bachelor's degree with honors. Rae and several ex-classmates from Goldsmiths participated in Freeze, an iconic group exhibition organized by Damien Hirst, which inaugurated the Young British Artists collective. Subsequently, Fiona Rae represented a feminist minority within YBA, praised alongside Sarah Lucas (2) and Jenny Saville as the group's most outspoken and proactive women. In May 2002, the Royal Academy elected Fiona Rae as RA, making her the second "Young British artist" (and the first female) after Gary Hume to earn this honor. Five years later, Saville, Tracey Emin and Gillian Wearing followed Rae's steps, all elected as RAs in 2007.