In the mid-1990s, the 'BritArt' or 'Young British Artists' movement, centring on the work of Damien Hirst, startled the public and artistic community and asserted British influence in the international arts scene. Hard-hitting work continues with Tracey Emin's candid revelations of her inner and everyday life: contemporary British artists use every possible medium of expression, including themselves. New work in video and digital media is celebrated at the Liverpool Biennial and Video Positive, while the National Review of Live Art in Glasgow challenges audiences with new live work by invited performers. The annual Turner Prize, awarded to a British artist under 50, is one of the most prestigious arts prizes in the world and a focus for developments in contemporary art. The Jerwood Prize is the largest award of its kind given to a single artist and has helped to revitalise interest in painting.

Since the heyday of Henry Moore, there has never been a better time for public art in the UK. Rachel Whiteread's monumentalist pieces transform the ordinary. Anthony Gormley's colossal Angel of the North is both the guardian and pride of the north east of England. When Mark Wallinger became the first artist to use the empty plinth in London's Trafalgar Square as a site, his life-sized figure of Christ placed the old against the new, the grand against the humble. This can be seen across the visual arts in the UK.

London's Tate Modern, opened in May 2000, is the capital's first specialist gallery of 20th century art and both the collection and the refurbished power station that houses it have attracted millions of visitors. The independent Arts Councils of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland subsidise a significant amount of the visual arts in the UK, including the great collections of the National Gallery and Tate Britain. They also support and foster promising individual artists. In England, some funding decisions are delegated by the Arts Council of England to 10 regional arts boards.