‘Like no other artist of his generation, Damien Hirst has permeated the cultural consciousness of our times.’ That is according to the curator of Tate Modern’s major retrospective show.
Hirst is famous for covering a skull in diamonds, displaying a shark in a tank of formaldehyde and presenting the head of a cow that is eaten away by maggots and flies, all in the name of modern art. A figurehead for the Young British Artists who came to prominence in the 90s, Hirst has quickly become a multi-millionaire and is well-known for his forthright approach to the financial world that drives art production.
Con art?
A new book by former curator Julian Spalding has given voice to what many people have feared: that we’ve all been taken in by Hirst’s art when in fact he is a fraud. Con Art — Why You Ought to Sell Your Damien Hirst While You Can postulates that works by Hirst and other ‘conceptual’ artists will plummet in value once the art world recognises that putting something in an art gallery does not make it art. Spalding suggests that Hirst’s success is built on the myth that innovative art must be shocking, when in fact this is all part of a dire case of ‘the emperor’s new clothes’.
