Damien HIRST (1965 - ) - Lot 163

Damien HIRST (1965 - ) Butterfly Felt pen on paper Signed "Damien Hirst" lower center Framed 24 x 32,5 cm NOTICE Damien Hirst (b. 1965) is an iconic British artist and one of the most influential figures of the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement, a group of controversial artists who emerged in the 1990s. Alongside Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas and Marc Quinn, Hirst redefined contemporary British art by incorporating provocative themes and using unconventional materials. Hirst's work focuses on concepts such as life, death, fragility and beauty, often exploring the boundaries between art and science. Hirst is famous for his "Butterfly Paintings", a series of works using real butterflies frozen in vibrant, geometric patterns, symbolizing ephemeral beauty and mortality. Her work goes beyond simple representations, confronting the viewer with the tension between aesthetics and the transience of life. Among his other iconic works, "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" (1991), a shark preserved in formalin, is one of the most striking pieces in contemporary art. Damien Hirst follows in the footsteps of artists who have worked on similar themes, such as Francis Bacon, whose dark, existential explorations influenced Hirst's approach to the representation of death and decomposition. Similarly, the American artist Jeff Koons, with his provocative use of industrial materials and kitschy treatment of the everyday, resonated with Hirst's work, particularly in his exploration of popular culture and the object as artistic artifact. Other contemporary artists, such as Takashi Murakami, share Hirst's fascination with the commodification of art and questions of economy in contemporary art. Andy Warhol, though from an earlier generation, also left his mark on Hirst with his reflections on repetition, mass consumption and celebrity. Damien Hirst's work, with its monumental installations and experiments on life and death, continues to challenge artistic conventions and provoke debate around the limits of art, science and popular culture.