Britain's Most Famous Living Artist

---

Born in Bristol in 1965.

Born as an artist in the late 1980's.

Damien Hirst is known worldwide as a modern contemporary artist with an interest in "the unacceptable idea" of death. He first came to public attention with the 1988 ehibition Freeze, which he conceived while still attending college. Following his success from his first major exhibition, Hirst began a generation for British artists with his spot paintings, which he claimed "to pin down the joy of color," and his installment of cardboard Boxes.

Since then, many of his works have become widely recognized, from the shark suspended in formaldehyde, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991, through to later works such as the diamond skull For the Love of God 2007.

His contribution to British art over the last two decades is recognized this year at London's Tate Modern, the UK's leading contemporary art museum.

Fortunately, it is located just down the River Thames, only a 15 walk from my flat. 2 Sundays ago I decided to take a peak into the mind of Damien Hirst in his first major survey of his work held in London.

Some of my favorite pieces included:

. Lullaby, the Seasons 2002, which signifies the similarity between a lullaby soothing a child into sleep and sleep-inducing pharmaceuticals.

. In and Out of Love 1991, which in one room, he hung white canvases embedded with pupae. Butterflies hatched from the paintings, flew freely around the room, fed on sugar water and flowers, and mated and laid eggs (all available for his viewers to witness!). In a second room, Hirst showed eight brightly colored canvases with dead butterflies attached to their surface.

. Crematorium 1996, a large astray filled with cigarette butts and ash. A reminder of the inevitablity of death.

Hirst certainly challenged me with his abstract ideas of contemplating the harsh reality of death in a living body and mind.

---

Photos

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the mind of Someone Living 1991
An actual shark provoking the viewer to actual fear.

For the Love of God 2007
consisting of a platinum cast of a human skull, covered in 8,601 flawless diamonds.