2009
British artist Damien Hirst is widely considered the enfant terrible of contemporary art. He is the most prominent of the so-called Young British Artists, or YBAs, a group, largely composed of Hirst’s classmates at Goldsmiths, in London, that began exhibiting together in warehouses and factories after 1988 and is known for the use of unconventional materials and “shock tactics” in his paintings, prints, sculptures and other works.
In the 1990s, Hirst said, “I can’t wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it.” And indeed, he is notorious for piquing critics and baffling the public with such pieces as his signature glass vitrines containing dead sheep or sharks in formaldehyde, and his diamond-encrusted skull, For the Love of God.
Working primarily in sculpture, Hirst takes after French modernist master Marcel Duchamp in his use of ready-made objects and materials, which he combines to ironic effect. He often creates in series, as with "The Cure (Violet)" and "The Cure (Turquoise)," both from 2014, which are among several pill paintings referencing Andy Warhol’s embrace of mass production.
Belonging to Hirst's ongoing series of “spot” paintings, begun in the 1980s, the 2005 piece Xylene Cyanol Dye Solution is striking for its machinelike, industrial uniformity and almost childlike simplicity, a seeming rebuke to the idea of the artist-as-genius.
In addition to making art, Hirst has launched stores that sell editioned works (Other Criteria), a restaurant (Pharmacy2) and even his own London museum (Newport Street Gallery).
Find original Damien Hirst paintings, prints and other works on 1stDibs.
Spin
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2009 Stamped by artist A vibrant example of Damien Hirst’s iconic spin paintings, this work embodies the artist’s exploration of colour, movement, and controlled r...
Paper, Acrylic
Spin
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2009 Stamped by artist A vibrant example of Damien Hirst’s iconic spin paintings, this work embodies the artist’s exploration of colour, movement, and controlled r...
Paper, Acrylic
Spin
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2009 Stamped by artist A vibrant example of Damien Hirst’s iconic spin paintings, this work embodies the artist’s exploration of colour, movement, and controlled r...
Paper, Acrylic
Spin
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2009 Stamped by artist A vibrant example of Damien Hirst’s iconic spin paintings, this work embodies the artist’s exploration of colour, movement, and controlled r...
Paper, Acrylic
Spin
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2009 Stamped by artist A vibrant example of Damien Hirst’s iconic spin paintings, this work embodies the artist’s exploration of colour, movement, and controlled r...
Paper, Acrylic
Spin
By Damien Hirst
Located in Manchester, GB
By Damien Hirst 2009 Stamped by artist A vibrant example of Damien Hirst’s iconic spin paintings, this work embodies the artist’s exploration of colour, movement, and controlled r...
Paper, Acrylic
Shark Spin Painting
By Damien Hirst
Located in London, GB
Acrylic on paper. 2009 48.9 × 67.3 cm 94 x 94 cm (framed) A mesmerizing Damien Hirst Spin painting with explosions of vivid color amidst the timeless, mysterious form of a shark. Th...
Paper, Acrylic
Damien Hirst – Shark Spin Painting, 2009
By Damien Hirst
Located in Madrid, MD
Damien Hirst – Shark Spin Painting, 2009 Medium: Acrylic on canvas Framing: Museum-quality acrylic case with silver leaf wooden backing Dimensions: W 76 x D 5,5 X H 71 cm. Descript...
Acrylic
Beautiful, Everlasting, Inexhaustibly Interesting, Revelatory Painting, SIGNED
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
Damien Hirst H12-4: Beautiful, Everlasting, Inexhaustibly Interesting, Self-Revelatory Gyration Painting, 2023 Mixed Media Giclée print on poly-cotton artist canvas mounted on a birc...
Plywood, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Giclée
#219 Beautiful, Socially Virtuous, Self Assured Star System Painting
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
'The Beautiful Paintings' series by Damien Hirst explores the intersection of beauty, color, and perception through densely layered compositions of vibrant paint. *#219 Beautiful, So...
Color
Damien Hirst – Dot Spin Painting, 2009
By Damien Hirst
Located in Madrid, MD
Damien Hirst – Dot Spin Painting, 2009 Acrylic on paper, presented in a museum-grade acrylic case with transparent sides and gold leaf wooden backing. Created in 2009 to celebrate t...
Acrylic
In A Spin, from In A Spin Series
By Damien Hirst
Located in Miami, FL
TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Damien Hirst In A Spin, from In A Spin: The Action Of The World On Things 2002 Spin etching S: 36 x 28 in. I: 6 x 4 in. Edition o...
Etching
Once built for curbs and handrails, these boards now hang beside blue-chip works in major museums and collectors’ homes.
Fierceness and fragility coalesce as the British artist revisits a cherished motif — the butterfly.
