Damien Hirst at the Tate Modern

Detail of Symphony in White Major

Damien Hirst’s current exhibition at Tate Modern will run until 9 Sept 2012, but to view his renowned diamond skull ‘For the Love of God’, which is separate to the rest of his exhibition and free, you must get down there before 24^th June.

This exhibition focuses on the development of Hirst’s career, which is full of contrast and duality.  This is best represented with his use of butterflies.  An entire room is filled with all types of butterflies, flying freely around the visitors.  They started life out as pupae which Hirst attached to white canvases which hang from the walls.  The themes of rebirth, continuation and the beauty of nature are contrasted with a museological themed display of cigarette butts in Dead Ends Die Out, Examined and ashtrays full of cigarette butts.  This connection is built up in stages, with the ashtrays being in the same room as his paintings made out of dead butterflies’ wings.  These butterfly creations also call upon connotations of religion and God, with Hirst arranging them as though they were stained glass windows.  Religion and science are combined in The Anatomy of an Angel which dissects a classic, winged sculpture of a woman.

Dead Ends Die Out, Examined

Hirst’s exploration of nature also comes in the form of his formaldehyde preservations.  These creations are beautiful, if not a little disturbing.  He allows us to look inside the intricacies of these creatures with Mother and Child, Divided which is a cow and calf, separately preserved in formaldehyde and each sliced in half so the viewer can walk through the centre.

Mother and Child, Divided

There are several elements which are repeated throughout the exhibition, mainly pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, and nature.  Repetition itself is also fundamental to Hirst’s work.  His spot paintings seem to be the earliest beginnings of this trend, developing into museological displays of pills, manufactured diamonds and cigarette butts.  All of these focus on the passing of time in life and death, and the products that consume along the way.

Lullaby, the Seasons

What makes Hirst so likeable is the accessibility and humour displayed in his work.  It’s modern art at its best; unpretentious and fun.  The first piece you are greeted with is What Goes Up Must Come Down, a ball suspended in air by an upturned hairdryer.  His ideas are simple, but they work because they are beautifully executed with ingenuity. 

What Goes Up Must Come Down