Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst
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Damien Hirst
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Date de mise en ligne : vendredi 26 dcembre 2008
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Damien Hirst
Hirst dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s and is internationally renowned.
During the 1990s his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, but
increasing frictions came to a head in 2003 and the relationship ended.
Damien Hirst (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Damien Hirst Born 7 June 1965 Bristol, England Nationality British Field Conceptual art, installation art, painting
Training Leeds College of Art and Design, Goldsmiths Movement Young British Artists Works The Physical
Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, For the Love of God Patrons Charles Saatchi Awards Turner
Prize
Damien Steven Hirst (born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and the most prominent member of the group known as
"Young British Artists" (or YBAs). Hirst dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s and is internationally
renowned. During the 1990s his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, but increasing frictions
came to a head in 2003 and the relationship ended.
Death is a central theme in Hirst's works. He became famous for a series in which dead animals (including a shark, a
sheep and a cow) are preservedsometimes having been dissectedin formaldehyde. The Physical Impossibility of
Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a 14-foot (4.3 m) tiger shark immersed in formaldehyde in a vitrine became the
iconic work of British art in the 1990s, and the symbol of Britart worldwide. Its sale in 2004 made him the world's
second most expensive living artist after Jasper Johns.
In June 2007, Hirst overtook Jasper Johns when his Lullaby Spring sold for £9.65 million at Sotheby's in London. On
30 August 2007, Hirst outdid his previous sale of Lullaby Spring with For The Love of God which sold for £50 million
to an unknown investment group. He is also known for "spin paintings," made on a spinning circular surface, and
"spot paintings," which are rows of randomly-coloured circles.
In September 2008, he took an unprecedented move for an artist of his status by selling a complete show, Beautiful
Inside My Head Forever, at Sotheby's by auction and by-passing his long-standing galleries. The auction exceeded
all predictions, raising £111 million ($198 million), breaking the record for a one-artist auction as well as Hirst's own
record with £10.3 million for The Golden Calf, an animal with 18-carat gold horns and hooves, preserved in
formaldehyde.
(source : wikipedia)
Damien Hirst a travaillé comme sculpteur et commissaire d'expositions à la fin des années 80, époque
correspondant à l'apparition du mouvement des Young British Artists.
Dans son travail, Damien Hirst exprime sa vision du lien entre l'art, la vie et la mort. Aprsè avoir exposé des objets et
animaux issus de la vie réelle dans des vitrines, il travaille directement sur des cadavres d'animaux afin que "l'art soit
plus réel que ne l'est une peinture". Les animaux se retrouvent coupés dans la longueur, placés dans du formol et
exposés dans des aquariums afin de pouvoir en observer l'intérieur.
Damien Hirst expose également une série de peintures monochromes sur lesquelles sont appliqués des papillons
naturalisés. Un échantillon des Spot Paintings, tableaux de points colorés, a été envoyé sur Mars par la navette
Beagle 2 afin de servir de repère de couleur aux astronomes.
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