Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst

 

Damien Hirst is one of the richest living artists in Britain, largely from the fact that one of his main goals in creating art is to sell it.  He is famous for his series of preserved animals in tanks of formaldehyde.  This series deals with a theme of death.  The dead animals in this series include cows, sheep, a shark, and a zebra.  Sometimes the animals are dissected before they are placed in the formaldehyde containers, thus allowing the viewers to see the inside of the animal as well as the outside.  Another of his pieces that is widely recognized is For the Love of God, which is a platinum skull covered with diamonds.  The skull is modeled in platinum from a real skull, and the actual human teeth are included in the sculpture. 

I think Damien Hirst has interesting ideas, and I like the way he has explored conceptual art.  Hirst makes me think about the commercialism of art, and creating to sell versus creating to share a concept.  He has found a balance between these two reasons to create.  I was inspired by his series containing the animals in formaldehyde, because I liked the idea of combining art and science.  Also, he preserves a moment in time for people to observe and study.