Damien Hurst
I chose Damien Hurst because I’ve always loved Cabinets of Curiosities, natural history museums, and dead animals (see http://www.juliamira.com/bones.html). As an occasional teacher of teenage boys, I have a special place in my heart for kids who act out, and Hurst certainly does. (My fondness for such kids begins to fade as they age past, say, 30, without growing up.)
Damien Hurst (1965-?) had a modest upbringing in Leeds. His father left when he was 12, and he did badly in school except for art classes. He was arrested twice for shoplifting as a child, and continued his bad-boy behavior into the 90’s: "I started taking cocaine and drink... I turned into a babbling wreck." By the start of 2012, he was the richest artist in the world.
As I was collecting material for this essay, reading tit-bits aloud to my husband and boarder, we entered into a lively discussion about found art, artists disrespecting their clients, and plagiarism. Hurst’s career and writings provide plenty of fuel for such discussions, most notably his statement, "I can't wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it. At the moment, if I did certain things, people would look at it, consider it, and then say 'yuck.' But after a while, you can get away with things." We have been discussing his obituary as well. Is it a hoax?
Either he is really dead, in which case I for one regret it, or he isn’t, and it’s another of his outrageous ways of slapping our brains around. And in that case, thanks.
The Young British Artists is a group of artists “noted for ‘shock tactics,’ use of throwaway materials, wild-living, and an attitude ‘both oppositional and entrepreneurial.’
These pushy graduates of Goldsmith’s gave exhibits in warehouses and docklands which astonished critics and revitalized the British art scene in the 1990’s. By the 2000’s, many of the yBa’s had received the Turner Prize and had been elected to the Royal Academy of Arts.
Many of Hurst’s pieces are exhibited in vitrines. The most talked-about ones are disgusting or shocking, such as “A Thousand Years,” a cow’s head covered in flies and maggots. But there are also sharks, lambs, and fish. A particularly lovely piece, “New Midas’ Lie,” includes butterflies and diamonds.
There is a series of dot paintings which he has done by assistants.
Damien Hurst (1965-?) had a modest upbringing in Leeds. His father left when he was 12, and he did badly in school except for art classes. He was arrested twice for shoplifting as a child, and continued his bad-boy behavior into the 90’s: "I started taking cocaine and drink... I turned into a babbling wreck." By the start of 2012, he was the richest artist in the world.
As I was collecting material for this essay, reading tit-bits aloud to my husband and boarder, we entered into a lively discussion about found art, artists disrespecting their clients, and plagiarism. Hurst’s career and writings provide plenty of fuel for such discussions, most notably his statement, "I can't wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it. At the moment, if I did certain things, people would look at it, consider it, and then say 'yuck.' But after a while, you can get away with things." We have been discussing his obituary as well. Is it a hoax?
Either he is really dead, in which case I for one regret it, or he isn’t, and it’s another of his outrageous ways of slapping our brains around. And in that case, thanks.
The Young British Artists is a group of artists “noted for ‘shock tactics,’ use of throwaway materials, wild-living, and an attitude ‘both oppositional and entrepreneurial.’
These pushy graduates of Goldsmith’s gave exhibits in warehouses and docklands which astonished critics and revitalized the British art scene in the 1990’s. By the 2000’s, many of the yBa’s had received the Turner Prize and had been elected to the Royal Academy of Arts.
Many of Hurst’s pieces are exhibited in vitrines. The most talked-about ones are disgusting or shocking, such as “A Thousand Years,” a cow’s head covered in flies and maggots. But there are also sharks, lambs, and fish. A particularly lovely piece, “New Midas’ Lie,” includes butterflies and diamonds.
There is a series of dot paintings which he has done by assistants.
A Thousand Years
You can see it at http://www.damienhirst.com/a-thousand-years
This is a vitrine containing a colony of maggots fed by a severed cow's head. It's disgusting. Satisfying firestorms of controversy surround it. Is it art? Do we have to think about death so much? No, really, it's about the life cycle of the maggots. And about God playing dice with our own lives. Etc.
I think part of the power of this piece comes from the sufficiency of metaphor. We can dig a lot of meaning out of it, but there is also the crawling sense of disgust that accompanies whatever insights we have. Does it have to be a cow's head instead of, say, a cut of meat without the cute eyeballs and sweet pink nose? Of course it does. We can distance ourselves from a steak, but not from a bleeding head. Art isn't about distance, not anymore. And that's why it's a masterpiece.
This is a vitrine containing a colony of maggots fed by a severed cow's head. It's disgusting. Satisfying firestorms of controversy surround it. Is it art? Do we have to think about death so much? No, really, it's about the life cycle of the maggots. And about God playing dice with our own lives. Etc.
I think part of the power of this piece comes from the sufficiency of metaphor. We can dig a lot of meaning out of it, but there is also the crawling sense of disgust that accompanies whatever insights we have. Does it have to be a cow's head instead of, say, a cut of meat without the cute eyeballs and sweet pink nose? Of course it does. We can distance ourselves from a steak, but not from a bleeding head. Art isn't about distance, not anymore. And that's why it's a masterpiece.