Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst is a prominent English artist, born on June 7, 1965, in Bristol, known for his provocative works that often center around the theme of death. Emerging as a key figure of the Young British Artists (YBAs) in the 1990s, Hirst gained widespread acclaim and wealth, particularly for his controversial pieces such as *The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living*, which features a preserved tiger shark in formaldehyde. Educated at Goldsmiths, University of London, he first garnered significant attention with his 1991 exhibition *In And Out Of Love*, showcasing live butterflies alongside their dead counterparts.
Hirst’s career has been marked by both creative success and controversy, including a plagiarism lawsuit in 2000 and a notable shift in lifestyle following the death of his friend Joe Strummer in 2002. His 2007 work, *For the Love of God*, a diamond-encrusted skull, sold for over $100 million, solidifying his status as one of the wealthiest contemporary artists. Although his output slowed in the 2010s, he has continued to engage with themes of mortality and has explored new mediums, including NFTs. Hirst remains a polarizing figure in the art world, known for challenging traditional artistic boundaries while maintaining an active presence in both the cultural and philanthropic spheres.
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Damien Hirst
Artist
- Born: June 7, 1965
- Place of Birth: Bristol, England
Education: Jacob Kramer College, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England; Goldsmiths, University of London, London, England
Significance: English artist Damien Hirst has gained international acclaim and extraordinary wealth for his artworks. Many of Hirst's creations revolve around the theme of death, and some of his most well-known works involve the preservation of dead animals in cases of formaldehyde. Coming to prominence during the 1990s, he became the most identifiable artist to emerge from the decade's Young British Artists (YBAs) collective.
Background
Damien Hirst was born Damien Steven Brennan on June 7, 1965, in Bristol, England. He grew up in the city of Leeds in a working-class family. His parents divorced when he was twelve years old. Despite a strict upbringing, Hirst had a rebellious streak in his teens and was arrested twice for shoplifting. His mother was known for turning his punk albums into fruit bowls and for cutting up his bondage pants—pants covered in zippers and buckles that were hugely popular among punk fans in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hirst took an early interest in drawing, and his teachers praised his talent. They often stuck up for the youth when he found himself in academic trouble. Hirst managed to stay on top of his schoolwork, scoring well enough in his art A-level exams to gain admission into a local art school.
Hirst did not last long in school and soon left to take a job in construction in London. After two years, he enrolled in Goldsmiths, University of London (formerly Goldsmiths' College) and began to make art. Hirst curated his first exhibit as a student at Goldsmiths, putting on a show titled Freeze that featured his fellow students' work. He included his own art in the exhibit, but these early pieces were outshone by his more talented contemporaries. Nonetheless, his work piqued the interest of art collector Charles Saatchi. Saatchi's attentions proved career-making for the young artist, and over the next several years, the collector procured several of Hirst's works.
Life's Work
Hirst had his first solo exhibition in 1991. The show, In And Out Of Love, featured rooms of live butterflies as they hatched, flew, and died. Hirst also displayed canvasses filled with dead butterflies. Within a year, Hirst had become a well-known face among the YBAs, a group of artists whose work was known for its shock value and diverse materials. Saatchi's repeated support of the group helped the YBAs gain further celebrity. Hirst came into a wider spotlight in 1992 with his artwork The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. The piece consisted of a dead tiger shark preserved in a glass cabinet of formaldehyde. Hirst sold the work for more than $60,000.
Hirst continued to simultaneously amaze and repulse audiences with his artwork over the next few years. He secured England's prestigious Turner Prize in 1995. He made a foray into music video and short film directing in the latter half of the decade. In 1997, Saatchi chose Hirst as the star of his Sensations exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The show cemented the YBAs' status within the English art world, with Hirst becoming the presumptive leader of the pack. Hirst's reputation extended beyond his creative output, as his profanity and extreme partying habits made headlines. In addition, he became embroiled in a plagiarism controversy in 2000 following the unveiling of his sculpture Hymn, a twenty-foot bronze statue depicting the internal anatomy of a human bust. Hirst was sued by a toy company that claimed the artist copied its Young Scientist Anatomy Set figurine. Hirst agreed to pay an undisclosed amount in a May 2000 settlement.
Soon thereafter, Hirst recognized how detrimental smoking and drinking was to his health. The 2002 death of his good friend Joe Strummer, the former lead singer of the band the Clash, deeply affected Hirst. The loss encouraged his decision to clean up his life and inspired him to launch a charity to support young musicians. Throughout the remainder of the 2000s, Hirst created more works that dealt with his obsession with death. He unveiled For the Love of God, a platinum cast of a human skull covered in $14 million worth of diamonds, at an exhibition at London's White Cube gallery in 2007. The piece sold for more than $100 million. Hirst also focused on skulls for a series of paintings he produced in 2009. A year earlier, Hirst sold a large amount of his work at a Sotheby's auction, earning more than $111 million. By this point, Hirst was among England's wealthiest artists. His productivity slowed by the 2010s, though he was known to produce works in support of charities. Hirst amassed a large personal collection of artwork throughout the years, including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon. Hirst sometimes shows pieces from his collection at London's Newport Street Gallery, which he opened in 2015.
In 2024, questions arose about many of the artist's works. As part of a project he called The Currency, he had produced ten thousand paintings composed of hand-painted dots on which the year 2016 appeared beside Hirst's signature. However, at least one thousand of them were revealed to have been created in 2018 and 2019. The works went on sale in 2021. Both the artist and his authorized seller, Heni, had stated that the works were created in 2016. Heni was run by the artist's business manager. Buyers had to choose whether they wanted the digital or physical form of the work purchased; if they chose the NFT, the physical painting was destroyed. Hirst incinerated them personally in October 2022 at an event attended by the media. Sales of the paintings and corresponding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) initially generated about $18 million. Multiple sources and painters who said they had painted the dots said at least a thousand—and maybe several thousand—were mass-produced works. Hirst's attorneys said the artist often dated works in an art project with the date when he conceived of the project rather than the date works were completed. Also in 2024, some of his formaldehyde animal sculptures dated in the 1990s had been produced in 2017.
Impact
Hirst's artwork was designed to challenge conventional artistic notions and blur the line between science, creativity, and pop culture. Although some critics were wary of his artistic legitimacy due to his works' often disturbing imagery, Hirst has earned international acclaim for his imaginative creations, and collectors across the globe continue to seek out his work.
Personal Life
Hirst has three sons with his former girlfriend Maia Norman: Connor Ojala, Cassius Atticus, and Cyrus Joe.
Bibliography
Argun, Erin. "Hanging Hirst: A Guide to Damien Hirst's Major Exhibitions." My Art Broker, 5 Dec. 2023, www.myartbroker.com/artist-damien-hirst/guides/guide-to-damien-hirst-exhibitions. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
Chaundy, Bob. "Damien Hirst: Shockaholic." BBC, 20 Sept. 2002, www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in‗depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/2268841.stm. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.
"Damien Hirst." White Cube Gallery, www.whitecube.com/artists/damien‗hirst/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.
Dyer, Clare. "Hirst Pays Up for Hymn That Wasn't His." Guardian, 18 May 2000, www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/may/19/claredyer1. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.
Hattenstone, Simon. "Damien Hirst: 'Anyone Can Be Rembrandt.'" Guardian, 5 Dec. 2007, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/nov/14/damien-hirst-interview. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.
Jardine, Cassandra. "I Knew It Was Time to Clean Up My Act" Telegraph, 13 Nov. 2009, www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3621316/I-knew-it-was-time-to-clean-up-my-act.html. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.
McClenaghan, Maeve. "At Least 1,000 Damien Hirst Artworks Were Painted Years Later than Claimed." The Guardian, 22 May 2024, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/may/22/damien-hirst-artworks-painted-years-later-currency-artist. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
Prynn, Jonathan. "Damien Hirst's New Gallery Opens with Abstract Great John Hoyland." Evening Standard, www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/morrisseau-children-reach-out-of-court-settlement-over-artists-estate/article4202365/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.