Despite being one of the leading artists in the world for last ten years or more, 2009 has been a defining year for Damien Hirst. Starting the year by ditching the gallery system with his global recession busting sale at Southeby’s, through the continued commercialisation of his work with his Another Criteria stores and collaborations with Levi’s and Supreme, to his much talked about “No Love Lost: Blue Paintings” at the Wallace Collection, which sees his first collection of painitings hung next to grand masters from Titan and Rembrant its been an interesting year for the provocative artist. His latest exhibition “Nothing Matters” is set to launch next week at the White Cube gallery, which again is a series of paintings featuring his regular motifs of skulls, sharks and dots, but this time in vibrant red and green colour schemes. The reception to “No Love Lost” was underwhelming so it will be interesting to see how this second collection of paintings is received once removed from the hype and ostentatious surroundings.
“Nothing Matters” is at the White Cube gallery in London from 25th November till the 30th January 2010.
The Guardian in UK have also just published a fascinating interview with Hirst that looks at his controversial career and inspiration behind his decision to pick up a paintbrush read it here.
