Interview With Damien Hirst

Interview With Damien Hirst | reviews, news & interviews

Interview With Damien Hirst

Famous embalmer explains his return to paint

by Ben FergusonWednesday, 14 October 2009

'Requiem, White Flowers and Butterflies' (2008)Wallace Collection

Damien Hirst this week unveiled No Love Lost, Blue Paintings among the Old Masters at the Wallace Collection. Although an exhibition of 25 new paintings by Britain's most talked-about artist might seem a change of direction, Hirst takes a different view. The new works, created between 2006 and 2008, mark the artist's return both to hands-on production and a quieter life at home. Is it the recession? Or is he getting old?

I love the quote, 'Your reach has to outweigh your grasp'

Explore topics

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

Help to give theartsdesk a future! Support our GoFundMe appeal

Classical CDs: Woden, waltzes and watchmaking Big box sets, a great British symphony and a pair of solo cello discs

Albums of the Year 2024: Samara Joy – Portrait From Grammy triumphs to sonic odysseys: nine of the year's most transcendent jazz albums

Nutcracker, English National Ballet, Coliseum review - Tchaikovsky and his sweet tooth rule supreme New production's music, sweets, and hordes of exuberant children make this a hot ticket

You Me Bum Bum Train, secret location review - a joyful multiverse of anarchic creativity This latest incarnation of the show is a wild, spinning ride through different forms of reality

The Tempest, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane review - Sigourney Weaver's impassive Prospero inhabits an atmospheric, desolate world Magic is minimised in Jamie Lloyd's pared-back version

Albums of the Year 2024: Mercury Rev - Born Horses An exploration of inner space, freeze-dried electronica, French nursery rhymes and more

Strike: The Ink Black Heart, BBC One review - protracted, convoluted puzzler lifted by its leads The army veteran and his partner are still trapped in a detective-genre script

Albums of the Year 2024: Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso - Baño María Art that creates it's own (deliriously wild) lane

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Donmar Warehouse review - a blazingly original musical flashes into the West End War and Peace - but not as you know it

Messiah, Wild Arts, Chichester Cathedral review - a dynamic battle between revelatory light and Stygian gloom This supple inventive interpretation of the 'Messiah' thrillingly delivers the story

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl review - an old foe returns Stop-motion animation on an epic scale

Follow @theartsdesk