Damien Hirst At The Gagosian

I always love visiting art exhibitions and galleries in London and it is definitely one of the things I’ve missed most during the lockdown. Now as restrictions are lifting we headed down to the Gagosian Gallery for the newly opened Damien Hirst exhibition.

Damien Hirst – Fact Paintings and Fact Sculptures is an exhibition of some of his most rarely seen works created between 1993 and 2021 and is a year long take over at the gallery. Fact Paintings and Fact Sculptures starts off with what looks like jewellery cabinets filled with gems next to rubbish bags and wheelie bins, funnily enough these are titled Idiot and other names I wouldn’t write here.

• 

• 

Now some of the most famous Damien Hirst works are the dead animals in formaldehyde and there was a touch of this with the dead cow head on the floor from Hot Love, 1993.

The paintings were what I enjoyed seeing, I don’t think I’d seen the butterflies before, there was the large Papilio glaucus in Gerbera, 2009 and also a blue Emma Swims With The Dolphin from 2012.

Other works on display include a self portrait of Damien in the hospital, Self-Portrait as Surgeon, 2007, the gorilla eating a green pepper, Gorilla Eats Green Pepper, 2013 and the colourful spotted The Art Collector, 2018.

• 

• 

There is also the Persil shopping shelves, Persil, 2015 and the pharmacy cabinets, Don’t Stop Me Now, 2006
which remind me of the Damien and Mark Hix now closed restaurant Pharmacy 2.

One thing I knew before my visit was of the Coca-Cola vending machine, Coke/Diet Coke Vending Machine, 2007, because it actually works! All you need is a £1 coin and you can have your very own Damien Hirst signed Coke can. Watch it in action here.

Damien Hirst: Fact Paintings and Fact Sculptures is at the Gagosian Gallery, it is free to visit and you can book an appointment here.