Nick Fudge's decision to withdraw from the London art scene of the 1990s was both deliberate and significant. After graduating from Goldsmiths in 1988, he was ready to join his friends and colleagues in shaking up the London art scene in what became known as the Young British Artists (YBA) movement. Despite the potential for immediate success, Fudge made the bold decision to leave London and move to America. There, he worked in secret, distancing himself from the commercial pressures of the YBA movement. This retreat allowed him to maintain the conceptual integrity of his work and develop his practice on his own terms.

Between 1988 and 2015, Fudge made a conscious decision to limit the public exposure of his work, a choice rooted in his desire to maintain control over the development and conceptual integrity of his artistic practice. By withdrawing from the art market and gallery system, Fudge aimed to protect his work from the distorting pressures of market demands, commercial success, and the relentless focus on career progression instilled in many forms of art education and to allow his art practice to flourish without external influence.