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Damien Hirst superstar
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Damien
Hirst superstar
'Damien
wants to be king of the world' Michael Craig Martin, artist and
friend
Damien
Hirst's ambition has been described as exceptional and uninhibited,
not a particularly British characteristic. The scope of the Gagosian
exhibition gives an insight into that ambition. Everything is
created on a spectacular scale, and the impact is undeniable.
But Hirst's
impact on British life has been remarkable for more than just his
artistic ideas. His works have fuelled the market, driving prices
up to extraordinary levels. Some say this has been a deliberate ploy,
and they point to his spin paintings as evidence. These, reportedly
inspired by an episode of the children's television series, Blue Peter
- which Hirst saw as a child - are created by pouring paint onto a
revolving canvas. They take as little as eight minutes to create,
and it is generally not Hirst himself who does the pouring. Yet they
have been sold for tens of thousands of pounds.
Jay Jopling,
Hirst's British art dealer, denies that Hirst is fuelling the market.
He claims that, as a savvy businessman, Hirst is merely meeting the
demand for his work. 'Lots of people want to own a piece of Damien
Hirst,' Jopling says. 'He can offer them an original work of art.'
Even if that work is actually created by his assistants. Hence the
joke:
Q
How many YBAs does it take to change a lightbulb?
A
None. They get their assistants to do it because they've got a drinking
appointment in Soho with Keith Allen.
Hirst's
use of assistants is a reflection of the businesslike way in which
he treats his art. But it has also drawn criticism. In December 1999,
the Sunday Times said, 'If Hirst is notable for anything, it
is for finally severing the link between the "artist" and the person
who actually saws up the wildlife, colours in the dots, polishes the
surgical instruments and so on (his assistants take care of all that).
It is safe to say that he rarely gets his hands dirty.'
But if
Hirst does not get his hands dirty, he sometimes does get his fingers
burned. When Pharmacy, the Notting Hill restaurant, was launched in
January 1998 amid great hype, its chef was Marco Pierre White, and
Hirst - who had a stake in the venture - designed the interior. Bar
stools were shaped liked paracetamol tablets, the walls lined with
glass cabinets, filled with pill boxes and bottles.
Controversy
soon followed. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society objected to the name
of the restaurant, arguing that it would mislead the public. In July
1998, Pharmacy was floated on the stock exchange. Hirst and Matthew
Freud, the public relations guru who also owned a share in the restaurant,
swapped their part-ownership for shares in the Hartford Group, a company
backed by property tycoons Nigel Wray and Nick Leslau. The stock market
valued Pharmacy at around £7 million, making Hirst's stake worth almost
£400,000.
Although
the Hartford Group initially fared well on the stock market, its share
price hitting £1 in late 1998, success was short-lived. Although it
expanded, opening upmarket restaurants across south London, the ventures
failed. Style took precedence over efficiency, with waiting staff
kitted out in Armani uniforms. Eventually, the strain began to show.
By November 2000, the company's share price had collapsed to just
4.8p, slashing the value of Hirst's holding.
This
failure - so rare in Hirst's career - does not appear to have quelled
the artist's appetite for risk. The Gagosian
show reveals the extent to which Hirst is a showman, thriving
on adrenaline and the pressure of constantly being in the limelight.
As a friend, Keith Allen, comments, Hirst is a natural celebrity:
'He's always been famous in his head.'
Home
Programme summary
Taking New York
Damien Hirst superstar
Hirst's art: for
Hirst's art: against
Hirst's life
Art attack
Find out more
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