Shark Drinking A Beer
Photo by G.
I cannot wait until August for Shark Week to post this cool mural I spotted on the streets of New York, so let’s celebrate Shark Week early! Cheers!
The Best of the Music & Art Scene In New York From A to G. Daily!
Photo by G.
I cannot wait until August for Shark Week to post this cool mural I spotted on the streets of New York, so let’s celebrate Shark Week early! Cheers!
Photos by G. Art by Damien Hirst.
2012 is the year of Damien Hirst! I was fortunate enough to meet one of the most successful and controversial artists in the world earlier in 2012 and as my great luck would have it, I happened to be on holiday in London on the day that the retrospective of his art opened at the Tate Modern! If you are unfamiliar with his works, if you are already a fan or if you just shrug your shoulders when you hear his name, you should check out this exhibit. So many works you only read about in books are all on display in the same place at the same time.
While perusing the exhibit, many of the following thoughts will enter your head – “do people dislike Hirst because he is so rich and blame it on his art?” “It’s well known a staff of assistants helps him carry out his projects. How many people are employed and what types of schedules do they keep?” “How on earth do they transport these works of art across the world?”
At the retrospective, you’ll see the infamous spot paintings (and before you dismiss them, you should research the reasoning behind the color schemes as well as the fact that though these paintings look like they are done by machines, they are actually done by Hirst’s assistants); Medicine Cabinets, the glass cases filled with diamonds, cigarette butts and pills; spin paintings, skulls, butterflies; the animals in formaldehyde; the flies attacking a rotting carcass and more!
Whether or not Damien Hirst’s art is “your thing,” it will certainly give you lots of food for thought. I think that’s one of the greatest things about his work – it will certainly force you into making a decision about your opinion of his art. Like it or not, I can’t imagine a single person that sees this exhibit will walk away and have no opinion of it. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing museum patrons expressing extreme views of his art as I walked around the galleries.
If you will not be able to make it to London to see this exhibit, you should definitely check out The Happy Famous Artists’ Flickr page that is chock full of great snaps from the press preview of the Hirst retrospective.
If you go see the exhibit in person, make sure you exit through the gift shop!
“Damien Hirst” runs at the Tate Modern in London, England through September 9, 2012. Don’t miss it!