Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is one of Britain’s most famous artists. He is known for large, expensive and elaborate installations, but also for his love of shock and spectacle.

Many of his works challenge, and are the cause of heated debates. It is important to Damien to question what makes artworks valuable.

In 1988, while still a student at Goldsmiths’ College in London, Damien curated an exhibition entitled “Freeze,” in which he presented his own work and that of his fellow students. This exhibition is regarded as the starting point for the artists who would become world-famous under the name “Young British Artists,” or “YBAs” for short.

Damien finds it interesting when things are repulsive and attractive at the same time. In one of his most famous series of works, he exhibits dead animals in large glass cases: a sheep, a cow, and a shark. To preserve them, he soaked all the animals in a blue liquid—formaldehyde. Death is one of the central themes in Damien’s works. His fascination with (im)mortality is visible in various series of works.

Damien grew up in Leeds in the north of England. During his art studies in London he completed an internship in a mortuary—an experience that would influence his later themes and materials.