One of the most prominent artists of his generation, Damien Hirst is mainly acknowledged for his deliberately provocative art where he explores controversial themes such as beauty, death and rebirth, medicine, technology, and mortality. He pursued an art degree, first at Leeds College of Art and Design, then at Goldsmith’s College, University of London, graduating in 1989. During his studies, Hirst also worked in a mortuary. This experience that shaped his artistic vision of life and death. He first gained recognition in 1988 as he curated the exhibition ‘Freeze’ in an abandoned London Docklands warehouse, which marked the emergence of the Young British artists (YBAs). Hirst’s body of work addresses the scientific, philosophical and religious aspects of human existence in an unconventional way through sculpture, painting and printmaking. He was invited to exhibit at the Venice Bienniale in 1993 and was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize in 1995. His works are featured in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Ham- burger Bahnhof in Berlin, the Leeum Museum in Seoul, the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven and Fondazione Prada in Milan among others.
One of the most prominent artists of his generation, Damien Hirst is mainly acknowledged for his deliberately provocative art where he explores controversial themes such as beauty, death and rebirth, medicine, technology, and mortality. He pursued an art degree, first at Leeds College of Art and Design, then at Goldsmith’s College, University of London, graduating in 1989. During his studies, Hirst also worked in a mortuary. This experience that shaped his artistic vision of life and death. He first gained recognition in 1988 as he curated the exhibition ‘Freeze’ in an abandoned London Docklands warehouse, which marked the emergence of the Young British artists (YBAs). Hirst’s body of work addresses the scientific, philosophical and religious aspects of human existence in an unconventional way through sculpture, painting and printmaking. He was invited to exhibit at the Venice Bienniale in 1993 and was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize in 1995. His works are featured in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Ham- burger Bahnhof in Berlin, the Leeum Museum in Seoul, the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven and Fondazione Prada in Milan among others.