Exhibitions - Previous Exhibitions - Damien Hirst

Yet another fantastic scoop for The Gascoigne gallery. This work has never been shown before in the North of England even though he lived here for a part of his life. His work has recently been sent into space and now it is the turn of Harrogate for such a privilege! Get ready for the sensation that will make your eyes twirl.

"... and he said to me 'I really like your work, but I hate the stupid spin etchings' and I said 'why?' and he said 'because they're just visual candy'.  I couldn't get it out of my head, I thought what the *#@! is wrong with visual candy!"

Every so often in British art a figure comes along and enthrals a generation. In the early 1900s, it was Augustus John; in the 1930s, Henry Moore; in the 1950s, Francis Bacon and in the following decade, David Hockney. In the early 1990s, Damien Hirst was the chosen one, a media natural who combined toughness with teasing humour, high professionalism with truth to himself that tolerated no compromise.

Hirst studied at the Jacob Kramer College of Art in Leeds, after receiving an E Grade in his Art A-level exam. He then became a student at the Goldsmiths College, University of London. It was here whilst still a student that Hirst curated the now legendary Freeze exhibition. The archetypal forms and simplicity of approach of Hirst's three-dimensional work are also found in his painting. While his sculptures have gained the headlines, his continuing activity as a painter has been less scrutinized.

The Spin paintings, from 1994 onwards, are the result of an extremely basic idea of dropping pigment onto a circular support laid flat on a motorized table. With this dynamic series of spin paintings Hirst exploits "the mechanical yet fortuitous nature of art production."  He actively seeks to achieve a sense of randomness through formless splashes of colour created by pouring ordinary house paint onto spinning canvases. 

This project uses the medium of etching to further explore the themes of randomness and the passage of time. The spin etchings were inspired by a time-lapse photograph that Hirst took of the sky at night.  By leaving the shutter open, the stars appeared to 'etch' curved lines across the sky, much the same way he drew the spin etching lines.  His title, In a Spin, the Action of the World on Things, implies that the spinning world is creating these intoxicating works.