I wonder....is there anyone on the planet who hasn't at least heard his name? To say, "Damien Hirst is famous" might have been enough in the 90's but he has since joined the ranks of those the world deems icon worthy. And like so many who reached this status before him it was controversy that drove him to such heights. But unlike some, Madonna, Damien's got real talent. Unfortunately, not everyone gives the man his due. Many of his fellow artists got turned off by his dead animals in formaldehyde works. I haven't figure it out yet, perhaps someone in cyberspace can explain it to me, but this work drew huge crowds. He simply preserved a 14 foot dead shark and the art world loved him for it. The sale of the dead creature made him the second most expensive living artist in the world!All dead sharks, sheep and cows aside -- the man is an artistic genius. In 1995 Damien was awarded the Turner Prize for his work, 'Mother and Child Divided' which I won't describe because to be honest it makes me a bit nauseous. But for every piece of Damien's work that nauseates me there is a piece that makes me stand in awe. One of my favorites is, 'Beautiful I've Been Spirited Away Painting'. And I'm sure everyone loves his, 'Kaleidoscope VII'. It's a massive amount of butterfly wings on canvas. And my all time Damian Hirst favorite to date shares the same theme -- butterflies. He has entitled it appropriately, 'Devotion'. The beautiful arrangement shows his expertise with color.
So for those of you who have been turned off by his obsession with death I encourage you to take another look. I believe Damien has finally discovered that which he has been searching for all along...harmony. He just had to work his way past some abandonment issues first. Unfortunately for us, artists, all of our emotional issues show up in our work.
11 comments:
I wrote a blog entry about how context changes our view :
http://jafabrit.blogspot.com/2007/11/sunday-mustings-matter-of-context.html
Here is part of my observation:It seems we have become so removed from the actual animal that seeing a dissected cow in an art gallery is incongruous and shocking. Would it have been so shocking if we were used to seeing meat as it was once displayed in butcher shops/window displays?
I don't like him too much, but I do get (I believe) what he was trying to say.
forgot to mention I really like your blog banner.
Thank you. It's actually a wall in Russia. I like to support street artists. I'm a graffiti fan! You'll find more cool stuff like it here:
http://designwar.net/index.php?c=graffiti
yes i like mr hirst. but i must say his works dont translate very well into photography. seeing pictures of them on the internet does not allow you to feel their presence in a room. in fact the best pictures of them usually have a person standing in them for reference. Ive had the distinct pleasure / cooincidence of seeing several of his instalations. For instance, seeing a picture of the "Virgin Mother" statue just isnt the same as walking around it and discovering its nuances. the same with "For the Love of God," even if you could find a good picture of it, it seems kind of silly. but being in that blackened room, seeing nothing but this magnificant diamond covered skull with a brillian light pointed down on it refracting into a million tiny rainbows, it was practically a religous experience.
I haven't heard his name, but then again, I'm not on the planet.
wow, it is just wonderful, I thought it was just a design made for the blog. Very cool and thanks for the link.
thanks for the link, they are awesome.
Thanks Space Mountain Man...I needed to laugh today...it's been a long day....all work and no play.
JafaBrit - I'm glad you like them. :) If you find any cool links you think I might like please send them my way.
You know, most days when I look at artwork by Damien Hirst I think of the pretentious artists in college whose conceptual work was all about shock and awe but had absolutely nothing to say. I did, however, see his cesearean birth paintings and thought they were pretty powerful.
He definitely had some issues to work through in his youth...we all did...but now he seems to have reached the other side. It's going to be interesting to see who he becomes and where his art takes us in the next stage of his career. He has proven one thing to us that's for sure...he's here to stay!
I interviewed Damien earlier this year in Bali, where he was finishing an intense three-month painting session. I expected him to have a bumper sticker on his laptop that said, “Suck my cock vomit.” Which he did. But I didn’t expect him to be extraordinarily down-to-earth, generous, and aware of his own position in a way that is caring rather than cynical.
Despite his image (despite what I had thought and written before the interview) I was struck by how much Damien really does care about art. The conversation completely reversed my opinion.
When you hear him talk about painting -- the interview touches on everything from the suicide of his close friend to the essence of painting to five-foot wooden giraffes, with a detour on the nature of visual language using Vaseline and a cucumber -- you get the sense of an exceptionally intelligent man who is trying to protect art from the art world (including himself.)
It's republished at http://www.boldizar.com/blog/nonfiction/damien-hirst-new-paintings-interview/
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