The Cure - Cream/Aubergine/Pea Green

Introduction

At the beginning there was a dot. Circular, neither too large nor too small, unimposing, coloured. One dot, plain and simple. It stood on the wall of a warehouse in London, an area converted into an exhibition space. Other dots soon appeared around this dot, equidistant from one another, painted onto the wall. A square grid of coloured dots emerged. To prove how diverse such a grid of coloured dots could be, Damien Hirst painted a second next to it. They were called “Edge” and “Row”.
The effect was so effortlessly successful, the focus on a theme so profound. How can colours so concentrated, so bare, and yet so full of meaning, become art, become an image style? “Edge” and “Row” were both a product and the beginning of an artistic approach to colour that has been continually evolving since 1988.
Some of the grids remind us of medicines in the pharmaceutical industry. The soft pastel colours and uniform patterns of the coloured pills suggest a pain-free zone. The cryptic title given to the series by Hirst is also evocative of pharmaceutical ingredients. They have names that, were you to place them next to one another and read aloud, would sound like a poem in concrete prose: Mepromate Lepidine Histidyl - Abalone Acetone Powder.
The transferability of meaning and the transformation of content is very much in keeping with the style of the artist. One might recall the live tiger shark Hirst submerged in formalin in 1991. A silent killer of the deepest oceans, it looked out at the viewers from inside an enormous blue container, mouth wide open, teeth razor sharp. The threatening work was given the name “The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living”. Can anyone divide public opinion and whip the global art market into a frenzy in such a way? In 2007 he produced a human skull made from platinum and encrusted with 8601 pure diamonds, including a 52 carat diamond centrepiece mounted on the forehead. The skull was bought by an investment group for around $100 million. The plot thickened as we later learned that Hirst himself was a member of the group.
Hirst’s art is created to be ambivalent and revolves around a focal point in his thinking: “I’ve got an obsession with death … But I think it’s like a celebration of life rather than something morbid”. Whether preserving animals in formalin, creating kaleidoscopic images from butterflies, or covering skull x-rays with captivating colour mixtures, the young Tate Modern artist always manages to give death a smile.


Stephan Reisner

Bio

1965	Born in Bristol, UK
1986-1989	Goldsmith College „Fine Arts“
1988	Curator of the exhibition „Freeze“, Surrey Docks, London, UK
1990	Curator of the exhibition „Modern Medicine“, Building One, London, UK
2007	The artwork “For the Love of God” is sold for € 75 Million and is the most expensive work of contemporary art according to British media reports
	Lives in Devon and has Studios in London, Gloucester and Devon, UK

Awards

1995  Turner Prize

Exhibitions

2012	Damien Hirst. Retrospective at Tate Modern, London, UK
	Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011, Gagosian Gallery, New York, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rom, Genf, Athen, Hong Kong
	Damien Hirst Donation, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Dänemark
2011	Damien Hirst: Artist Rooms, Tate Britain, London, UK
2010	Cornucopia, Musée océanographique de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
	For the Love of God, Palazzo Vecchio, Florenz, Italien
2009	Nothing Matters, White Cube/ Huxton Square/ Mason Yard, London, UK
2008	Requiem, PinchukArtCentre, Kiew, Ukraine For the Love of God, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Niederlande
	Damien Hirst, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, USA
2007	Damien Hirst: Life, Death and Love, Kunsthuset Kabuso, Øystese, Norwegen
	Damien Hirst: Four Works from the Board Art Foundation, Portland Art Museum, Portland, USA
2006	The Death of God – Towards a Better Understanding of a Life Without God Aboard the Ship of Fools, Galeria Hilario Galguera, Mexico City, Mexiko
2005	Damien Hirst, Astrup Fearnley Museet fur Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norwegen
	A Selection of Works by Damien Hirst from Various Collections, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
2004	The Agony and the Ecstasy: Selected Works from 1989 – 2004, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Neapel, Italien
2003	Romance in the Age of Uncertainty, White Cube/Hoxton Square, London, UK
	Group Exhibitions (Selection):
2012	Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
	Art and Press, ZKM/ Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Deutschland
	12 Rooms: Ruhr Triennale 2012, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Deutschland
	British Design 1948 – 2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, Victoria Albert Museum, London, UK
	Made in Britain: Modern Art from the British Council Collection, Benaki Museum, Athen, Griechenland
2011	O’Clock: time design, design time, Triennale di Milano, Mailand, Italien
	In the Name of the Artists – American Contemporary Art from the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Bienal pavilion, Sao Paulo, Brasilien
	Selected works from the Francois Pinault Collection: Agony and Ecstasy, ongeun Artspace, Seoul, Korea
	Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan
	Fondazione Prada _ Ca'Corner della Regina, Prada Foundation, Venedig, Italien
	The Luminous Interval, Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spanien
2010	Plus Ultra, Macro, Rom, Italien
	Have You Ever Really Looked at the Sun?, Haunch of Vension, Berlin, Deutschland
	I LOVE YOU, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Arhus, Dänemark
	C’est la vie: Vanités de Caravage à Damien Hirst, Musée Maillol, Paris, Frankreich
2009	BAROCK – Art, Science, Faith and Technology in the Contemporary Age, MADRE, Neapel, Italien
	Medicine and Art: Imagining a Future for Life and Love, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
	Pop Life, Tate Modern, London, UK, 2010 Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Deutschland
	15 Years of Collecting - Against the Grain, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Deutschland
	Spridd isolerad konst (Scattered and Isolated Art), Kalmar Art Museum, Kalmar, Schweden
2008	Drei. Das Triptychon In Der Moderne, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Deutschland
	Art, Price and Value – Contemporary art and the market, Palazzo Strozzi, Florenz, Italien
	Statuephilia, British Museum, London, UK
	END GAME – British Contemporary Art from the Chaney Family Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
	Blood on Paper: The Art of the Book, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
	Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today, MOMA, New York, USA
	The Inaugural Installation, Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA, Los Angeles, USA
2007	Art Machines – Machine Art, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/M, Deutschland
	Reflection, PinchukArtCentre, Kiew, Ukraine Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Tate Britain, London, UK
	Contemporary and Cutting Edge: Pleasures of Collecting, Part III, Bruce Museum, Greenwich, USA
	David Bailey & Damien Hirst: The Stations of the Cross, Essl Museum of Contemporary Art, Wien, Österreich
	RE-OBJECT, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Österreich
	Draw, Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art, Middlesborough, UK
2006	Aftershock: Contemporary British Art, 1990-2006, Guangdong Museum of Art, Peking, China
	The François Pinault Collection, a Post-Pop Selection, Palazzo Grassi, Venedig, Italien
	RADAR: Selections from the Collection of Vicki & Kent Logan, Denver Art Museum, USA
	Visitaciones, Museo de San Carlos, Mexico City, Mexiko
	Into Me / Out of Me, PS1 MOMA, New York, USA
	Tokyo Blossoms: Deutsche Bank Collection meets Zaha Hadid, Hara Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2005	Rückkehr ins All/ Return to Space, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Deutschland
	Douglas Gordon’s The Vanity of Allegory, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Deutschland
	Contemporary Voices: Works from the UBS Art Collection, MOMA, New York, USA
	Prague Biennale 2, Prag, Tschechien
2004	From Moore to Hirst: Sixty Years of British Sculpture, National Museum Of Art, Bukarest, Rumänien
	Intra-muros, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nizza, Frankreich
	Works and Days: Acquisitions for the Louisiana Collection 2000-2004, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Dänemark
	Monument To Now, Nea Ionia Exhibition Space, DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athen, Griechenland
	La Collection d’Art Contemporain D’Agnes B, Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, Frankreich
	Secrets of the ‘90s, Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem, Arnhem, Niederlande
	In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Tate Britain, London, UK
	Turning Points: 20th Century British Sculpture, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Teheran, Iran
2003	Dreams and Conflicts: The Dictatorship of the Viewer, 50. Biennale Venedig, Italien
1997	Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
1988	Freeze, Surrey Docks, London, UK

Solo Exhibitions

2012	Damien Hirst. Retrospective at Tate Modern, London, UK
	Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011, Gagosian Gallery, New York, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rom, Genf, Athen, Hong Kong
	Damien Hirst Donation, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Dänemark
2011	Damien Hirst: Artist Rooms, Tate Britain, London, UK
2010	Cornucopia, Musée océanographique de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
	For the Love of God, Palazzo Vecchio, Florenz, Italien
2009	Nothing Matters, White Cube/ Huxton Square/ Mason Yard, London, UK
2008	Requiem, PinchukArtCentre, Kiew, Ukraine For the Love of God, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Niederlande
	Damien Hirst, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, USA
2007	Damien Hirst: Life, Death and Love, Kunsthuset Kabuso, Øystese, Norwegen
	Damien Hirst: Four Works from the Board Art Foundation, Portland Art Museum, Portland, USA
2006	The Death of God – Towards a Better Understanding of a Life Without God Aboard the Ship of Fools, Galeria Hilario Galguera, Mexico City, Mexiko
2005	Damien Hirst, Astrup Fearnley Museet fur Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norwegen
	A Selection of Works by Damien Hirst from Various Collections, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
2004	The Agony and the Ecstasy: Selected Works from 1989 – 2004, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Neapel, Italien
2003	Romance in the Age of Uncertainty, White Cube/Hoxton Square, London, UK

Group Exhibitions

2012	Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
	Art and Press, ZKM/ Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Deutschland
	12 Rooms: Ruhr Triennale 2012, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Deutschland
	British Design 1948 – 2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, Victoria Albert Museum, London, UK
	Made in Britain: Modern Art from the British Council Collection, Benaki Museum, Athen, Griechenland
2011	O’Clock: time design, design time, Triennale di Milano, Mailand, Italien
	In the Name of the Artists – American Contemporary Art from the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Bienal pavilion, Sao Paulo, Brasilien
	Selected works from the Francois Pinault Collection: Agony and Ecstasy, ongeun Artspace, Seoul, Korea
	Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan
	Fondazione Prada _ Ca'Corner della Regina, Prada Foundation, Venedig, Italien
	The Luminous Interval, Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spanien
2010	Plus Ultra, Macro, Rom, Italien
	Have You Ever Really Looked at the Sun?, Haunch of Vension, Berlin, Deutschland
	I LOVE YOU, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Arhus, Dänemark
	C’est la vie: Vanités de Caravage à Damien Hirst, Musée Maillol, Paris, Frankreich
2009	BAROCK – Art, Science, Faith and Technology in the Contemporary Age, MADRE, Neapel, Italien
	Medicine and Art: Imagining a Future for Life and Love, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
	Pop Life, Tate Modern, London, UK, 2010 Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Deutschland
	15 Years of Collecting - Against the Grain, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Deutschland
	Spridd isolerad konst (Scattered and Isolated Art), Kalmar Art Museum, Kalmar, Schweden
2008	Drei. Das Triptychon In Der Moderne, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Deutschland
	Art, Price and Value – Contemporary art and the market, Palazzo Strozzi, Florenz, Italien
	Statuephilia, British Museum, London, UK
	END GAME – British Contemporary Art from the Chaney Family Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
	Blood on Paper: The Art of the Book, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
	Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today, MOMA, New York, USA
	The Inaugural Installation, Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA, Los Angeles, USA
2007	Art Machines – Machine Art, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/M, Deutschland
	Reflection, PinchukArtCentre, Kiew, Ukraine Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Tate Britain, London, UK
	Contemporary and Cutting Edge: Pleasures of Collecting, Part III, Bruce Museum, Greenwich, USA
	David Bailey & Damien Hirst: The Stations of the Cross, Essl Museum of Contemporary Art, Wien, Österreich
	RE-OBJECT, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Österreich
	Draw, Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art, Middlesborough, UK
2006	Aftershock: Contemporary British Art, 1990-2006, Guangdong Museum of Art, Peking, China
	The François Pinault Collection, a Post-Pop Selection, Palazzo Grassi, Venedig, Italien
	RADAR: Selections from the Collection of Vicki & Kent Logan, Denver Art Museum, USA
	Visitaciones, Museo de San Carlos, Mexico City, Mexiko
	Into Me / Out of Me, PS1 MOMA, New York, USA
	Tokyo Blossoms: Deutsche Bank Collection meets Zaha Hadid, Hara Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2005	Rückkehr ins All/ Return to Space, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Deutschland
	Douglas Gordon’s The Vanity of Allegory, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Deutschland
	Contemporary Voices: Works from the UBS Art Collection, MOMA, New York, USA
	Prague Biennale 2, Prag, Tschechien
2004	From Moore to Hirst: Sixty Years of British Sculpture, National Museum Of Art, Bukarest, Rumänien
	Intra-muros, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nizza, Frankreich
	Works and Days: Acquisitions for the Louisiana Collection 2000-2004, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Dänemark
	Monument To Now, Nea Ionia Exhibition Space, DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athen, Griechenland
	La Collection d’Art Contemporain D’Agnes B, Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, Frankreich
	Secrets of the ‘90s, Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem, Arnhem, Niederlande
	In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Tate Britain, London, UK
	Turning Points: 20th Century British Sculpture, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Teheran, Iran
2003	Dreams and Conflicts: The Dictatorship of the Viewer, 50. Biennale Venedig, Italien
1997	Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
1988	Freeze, Surrey Docks, London, UK