These Days (2008-2009) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
Currently on view at the Gagosian Gallery (Davies Street) in London is “Poisons + Remedies:” an exhibition of new paintings by Damien Hirst, in which the artist explores the opposition between life and death through binaries of color and scale. In these works, Hirst expands upon his now-iconic use of the skull, represented starkly here in black and white, contrasting it with colorful, detailed images of scattered pills, which also reflect his ongoing interest in pharmacological motifs.
Passover (2008-2009) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
More text and images after the jump…
These Days (2008-2009) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
In Poisons, Hirst portrays magnified, individualized images of human skulls, rendered through silkscreen in black UV ink with charcoal onto large canvases. Each work is titled after a toxic chemical preparation such as Botulinum or Thallium, thus confusing the identity of the skull with the possible causes of its body’s death.
Botulinum (2010) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
The works in Remedies depict colored resin and plaster pills strewn across a painted white surface. In These Days (2008- 2009) and From Safety to Where (2008-2009), Hirst applies touches of watercolor in a gesture of medically-branded realism. “When you look at pills, they look so perfect, so pure. It’s hard to believe that each one comes with a list of side effects as long as your arm,” says the artist. “Pharmaceutical pills might be deceiving; they have the power to cure and to make sick.”
Tabun (2010) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
From Safety to Where (2008-2009) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
From Safety to Where (2008-2009) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
Hydrochloric Acid (2010) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
Citisine (2010) by Damien Hirst, via Gagosian Gallery
Installation View of Poison and Remedies at Gagosian Gallery Davies Street, via Gagosian Gallery
Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol, England. He won the DAAD fellowship in Berlin in 1994 and the Turner Prize in 1995. His work is included in important museums and collections throughout the world.
Exhibition Page [Gagosian Gallery]
Hirst Fights Diluted Market with $435 Chair, Prints, Galleries [Bloomberg]
-R.A. Proctor
