Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is a prominent and highly controversial British artist and entrepreneur, central to the Young British Artists movement that emerged in the late 1980s. He first gained public notoriety in 1988 by conceiving and curating the landmark exhibition Freeze while still a student at Goldsmiths, University of London. His work, which explores themes of death, science, and religion, often employs unconventional materials including preserved animals, pharmaceutical cabinets, and diamond-encrusted skulls. Hirst won the Turner Prize in 1995 and has since become one of the wealthiest living artists, known for record-breaking auctions and a vast, studio-factory production model.

Early life and education

Born in Bristol and raised in Leeds, his early life was marked by a turbulent relationship with his mother, Mary Brennan. He studied art at Jacob Kramer College in Leeds before moving to London in 1984. His foundational artistic education occurred at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he studied from 1986 to 1989 under influential tutors like Michael Craig-Martin. It was at Goldsmiths, University of London that he organized Freeze, a warehouse exhibition in London Docklands that showcased his own work and that of fellow students including Sarah Lucas and Gary Hume, effectively launching the Young British Artists and attracting the attention of important patron Charles Saatchi.

Career and major works

His career was propelled by Charles Saatchi, who commissioned and purchased major early works. The 1991 piece The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde, became an iconic symbol of 1990s British art. Other seminal works from this period include A Thousand Years, featuring a rotting cow's head and insect life cycle, and Mother and Child Divided, a bisected cow and calf. In 2007, he unveiled For the Love of God, a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with over 8,000 diamonds. His ventures extend beyond the gallery, including the restaurant Pharmacy and the 2008 auction Beautiful Inside My Head Forever at Sotheby's, which bypassed traditional galleries and grossed over £111 million.

Artistic style and themes

His practice is characterized by a direct engagement with the overarching themes of death, faith, and the limits of science. He frequently employs a clinical, almost laboratory aesthetic, seen in the Medicine Cabinets series and the Spot Paintings, which are often produced by teams of assistants. The use of biological materials—from butterflies and flies to livestock—confronts viewers with the physicality of mortality, while works like The Kingdom and the later Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable project explore mythology and belief. His painting series, such as the Spin Paintings and Butterfly Paintings, balance controlled processes with elements of chance and natural beauty.

Controversies and criticism

His work and commercial practices have attracted sustained criticism from figures like Julian Spalding and Brian Sewell. Accusations of plagiarism have surrounded works like Hymn, which was subject to a settlement with the designers of a Toy anatomical model. The 2017 exhibition Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable at the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice, funded by billionaire François Pinault, was criticized for its extravagant cost and perceived artistic overreach. Critics from The Guardian and other outlets have consistently questioned the conceptual depth of his later, mass-produced work and his transformation into a luxury brand.

Personal life and legacy

He has three sons with his former partner, Maia Norman, and lives between London, Gloucestershire, and Mexico. A long-term resident of Baja California Sur, he owns a large compound there. His legacy is inextricably linked to the commodification of contemporary art, influencing a generation of artists and the market itself. Major holdings of his work are found in collections like the Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Broad in Los Angeles. Despite polarizing opinion, he remains a defining figure of his era, having shaped the cultural landscape of Britart and the global contemporary art market.

Category:British contemporary artists Category:Young British Artists Category:Turner Prize winners Category:1965 births Category:Living people