"Mandalas" (2018-1019) would be the next great series whose star motif is the butterfly. In this series Hirst takes up his initial idea and shows hyper-realistic butterflies on colourful monochrome backgrounds. "Your Feel", "Your Smell" and "Your Touch" are some of the suggestive titles. The works, made with butterfly wings and household paint, allude to Christian spirituality and iconography through patterns similar to those found in church windows, an idea he had already worked on a year earlier in his famous series of limited edition silkscreen prints "Cathedrals".Īgain in 2015, the artist turned to the figure of the butterfly to produce a series of works that have nothing to do with the symmetry and intricate kaleidoscopic patterns of his previous series. It was "The Wonder of You", a series consisting of six limited edition prints whose titles allude to those sensations that are transformed into the memories that remain when the person is no longer there. In 2008, Damien Hirst created 150 works in a series he entitled "Psalms", in which each painting takes the title of one of the Old Testament psalms. The different series of works that make up Kaleidoscope have this symbolism, which is reinforced by the arrangement of the butterfly wings, the colour pattern used and the title of the work in question. The most important and the one that comprises others is the "Kaleidoscope" series, which the artist began in 2001 and of which he is still producing work. In addition, the artist plays with the idea of a unique nature, as no two butterflies have the same pattern, just as no two people are exactly alike.Īll these characteristics form part of the central axis of his work. On the other hand, the beauty of the butterflies, which remains immaculate even once they are dead, creates its own discourse that questions our way of seeing life and death. For example, the real image of a butterfly is quite different from the idealised image we have of it from our childhood, so its symbol in isolation exists as if it was not directly related to the insect it represents. The butterfly raises many questions for Damien Hirst. In Hirst's works, the butterfly has its own discourse, full of contradictions and uncertainty. According to Hirst, everything revolves around love, dreams, ideals, symbolism, realism, life and death. What I'm not sure is which is which".Īlthough this was the first time the public was able to see the butterfly figure as the centrepiece of Damien Hirst's work, it certainly wouldn't be the last. In an interview, Damien Hirst explained what his exhibition consisted of and spoke of both spaces: "One has a romantic side to it while the other refers to harsh reality. In the basement, In and Out of Love (Butterfly Paintings and Ashtrays), the exhibition featured eight monochromatic, brightly coloured canvases with dead butterflies stuck to a glossy surface. Once the butterflies were born, they flew and fed free in the room until, attracted by plants strategically placed under the canvases, they were trapped by the primer and died stuck to the same place where they were born. In the centre of the room, the visitor could find a table with four bowls containing sugar water. The entrance floor, In and Out of Love (White Paintings and Live Butterflies), was particularly damp, with blank canvases hung on the walls on which were attached several butterfly cocoons about to hatch. This exhibition was divided into two parts corresponding to each of the gallery's two floors. It was 1991 and Damien Hirst was on the verge of a meteoric career. This was to be the key idea behind In and Out of Love, his first solo exhibition at London's Woodstock Street Gallery. With the idea of creating something beautiful, Hirst swapped the flies for butterflies, the latter being fixed to brightly coloured monochrome panels with a glossy finish. Shortly after graduating, Damien Hirst began working in his Brixton studio on a series of works inspired by the flies that got stuck to his freshly varnished canvases. His intricate works with butterflies, his spotted works, his formaldehydes, his spins or his works with medicines and pills are already an emblem of contemporary art and, of course, a standard-bearer of modern British art. His most recognisable works employ elements that are already his own and that we associate with the name of Damien Hirst with just a glance. The artist seeks to provoke and succeeds in doing so through certain processes that question the very nature of art. Damien Hirst's work explores the boundaries and interactions between art, beauty, religion, technology, science, life and death.
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