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Extended through March 3, 2018

Damien Hirst

Visual Candy and Natural History

November 23, 2017–March 3, 2018
Hong Kong

Installation view Artwork © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artwork © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artwork © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artwork © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation view

Artworks © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Installation video Play Button

Installation video

Works Exhibited

Damien Hirst, Myth Explored, Explained, Exploded, 1993–99 Glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark, and formaldehyde solution, in 3 parts, dimensions variable© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates

Damien Hirst, Myth Explored, Explained, Exploded, 1993–99

Glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark, and formaldehyde solution, in 3 parts, dimensions variable
© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates

Damien Hirst, Myth Explored, Explained, Exploded, 1993–99 Glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark, and formaldehyde solution, in 3 parts, dimensions variable© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates

Damien Hirst, Myth Explored, Explained, Exploded, 1993–99

Glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark, and formaldehyde solution, in 3 parts, dimensions variable
© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates

Damien Hirst, Merry-Go-Round, 1995 Oil on canvas, 47 × 33 ⅛ inches (119.4 × 84.2 cm)© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Damien Hirst, Merry-Go-Round, 1995

Oil on canvas, 47 × 33 ⅛ inches (119.4 × 84.2 cm)
© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Damien Hirst, Happiness, 1993–94 Oil on canvas, 24 × 17 ⅞ inches (61 × 45.5 cm)© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Damien Hirst, Happiness, 1993–94

Oil on canvas, 24 × 17 ⅞ inches (61 × 45.5 cm)
© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Damien Hirst, Analgesics, 1993 Glass, silicone, acrylic, polystyrene, sheep's heads, and formaldehyde solution, in 2 parts, dimensions variable© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

Damien Hirst, Analgesics, 1993

Glass, silicone, acrylic, polystyrene, sheep's heads, and formaldehyde solution, in 2 parts, dimensions variable
© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved. DACS 2017

About

I had my stomach pumped as a child because I ate pills thinking they were sweets. . . . I can’t understand why some people believe completely in medicine and not in art, without questioning either.
—Damien Hirst

Gagosian is pleased to present Visual Candy and Natural History, a selection of paintings and sculptures by Damien Hirst from the early to mid-1990s. The exhibition coincides with Hirst’s most ambitious and complex project to date, Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, on view at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice until December 3.

Since emerging on the international art scene in the late 1980s as the protagonist of a generation of British artists, Hirst has created installations, sculptures, paintings, and drawings that examine the complex relationships between art, beauty, religion, science, life and death. Through series as diverse as the Spot Paintings, Medicine Cabinets, Natural History, and the butterfly Kaleidoscope Paintings, he has investigated and challenged contemporary belief systems, tracing the uncertainties that lie at the heart of human experience. This exhibition juxtaposes the joyful, colorful abstractions of his Visual Candy paintings with the clinical forms of his Natural History sculptures.

The Visual Candy paintings allude to movements including Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art, while the Natural History sculptures—glass tanks containing biological specimens preserved in formaldehyde—reflect the visceral realities of scientific investigation through minimalist design. Despite their stark formal differences, the two series were made during the same period and share conceptual foundations: an exploration of the relationships between pleasure and pain, transience and permanence, logic and emotion.

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小時候我曾經洗胃,因為我誤把藥丸當作糖果[……]我不明白為何有些人完全相信醫學,從不質疑,卻不相信藝術。
—達米恩‧赫斯特

高古軒欣然呈獻「視覺糖果與自然歷史」展覽,帶來達米恩‧赫斯特從1990年代初至中期的精選畫作和雕塑。展覽與赫斯特的「令人難以置信的深海寶藏」展覽同期舉行,後者為藝術家至今最宏偉複雜的項目,於威尼斯格拉西宮和海關大樓博物館展出至12月3日。

赫斯特於1980年後期以英國藝術先驅的身份在國際藝壇崛起,透過藝術裝置、雕塑、油畫和繪畫審視藝術、美學、宗教、科學與生死之間的複雜關係。他的作品變化萬千,囊括《圓點畫》(Spot Paintings)系列,《醫藥箱》(Medicine Cabinets)系列,《自然歷史》(Natural History)系列及蝴蝶《萬花筒》(Kaleidoscope)系列,既有家用油漆,也有蝴蝶翅膀,銳意探索及挑戰現代信仰體系,追尋人類體驗核心的不確定性。是次展覽將會同場展出歡欣繽紛的抽象風格作品《視覺糖果》(Visual Candy) 系列畫作,以及頗具醫學意味的《自然歷史》(Natural History)雕塑。

《視覺糖果》畫作系列呼應印象派、抽象表現主義和普普藝術等運動,而《自然歷史》雕塑則爲盛載甲醛和生物標本的玻璃箱,以極簡的設計展現科學研究的本質。雖然兩個系列的形式截然不同,卻創作於同一時期,且擁有相同的概念基礎,亦即探索愉悅與痛苦、短暫與永恆、邏輯與情感的關係。

在《視覺糖果》系列畫作中,赫斯特以泡泡糖粉紅色、螢光綠色和鮮藍色等濃豔色調的顏料厚塗,塗抹出鬆散的橢圓形圖案,又或與重複的點畫風格斑點交織重疊。《快樂快樂快樂》(Happy Happy Happy,1993–94年)、《Wowee Zowee》(1993年)和《超級傻樂》(Super Silly Fun,1993年)等作品的標題輕鬆歡快,透過隨心的傳統繪畫技巧,展現繽紛的色彩和圖案,與赫斯特圓點畫作的嚴謹著色手法形成強烈對比。

《視覺糖果》系列畫作的活潑氣息與《自然歷史》雕塑的嚴肅感覺形成鮮明對比,但當兩者一同展示時,效果卻非常和諧。畫作充滿歡樂玩味,賞心悅目,藉此寬慰甲醛雕塑作品所呈現的激烈效果