Comments on: Coming to Terms with Damien Hirst

By: markkerstetter

markkerstetter — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:21:40 +0000

Yes, there is a positive way to look at Hirst's work. In truth, I waver when it comes to this artist; I'm inclined to like him sometimes. But having seen the shark and coming across his butterfly bike as I was writing really turned me sour on these two works. I just can't countenance the killing of these creatures in the name of art. Besides, in purely artistic terms I think the shark fails and the bike is merely pretty.

Good guess, but it's not a Klein. It's really impossible to see from the photo but that blue picture has a contour that would have given it away as an Ellsworth Kelly. I love this photo because it displays four of my favorite artists in one shot.

By: markkerstetter

markkerstetter — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:21:40 +0000

By: aureliomadrid

aureliomadrid — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:49:32 +0000

Mark, thank you for the nice post,

Damien Hirst’s “The Physical Impossibility…” recalls the wunderkammer of centuries past. This sculpture is simultaneously related to something like Maurizio Cattalan’s over-the-top clownic taxidermy (that unfolding trend of the 90’s, thru the turn of the millennium). His polished & updated curiosa are also not unlike an antique vanitas painting &/or a ghoulish memento mori.
As you illustrate here, his themes are heavy with death. Hirst’s updated gestures are there to remind us of the end, our finitude, our being-towards-death. Just as we insist that these reminders be fresh in our mind, we will be happy to whistle away the truth (as is healthy at times). Musing on death, we are reminded to live. Art seduces this morbidity, it champions the facts.

“Levius solet timere, qui propius timet.” –Seneca (our fears vanish, as the danger approaches)

p.s. ...the leading photo for this post features a sculpture (in foreground) by Rachel Whiteread (along with Scully, Warhol, Shapiro & maybe a Klein).