Damien Hirst has spent decades challenging how we see art, beauty, science, and death. Since emerging in the late 1980s, he has created some of the most provocative and iconic works of contemporary art, from his preserved shark in formaldehyde (The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living) to his platinum skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds (For the Love of God).
A key figure in the Young British Artists movement, Hirst’s early Spot Paintings and Medicine Cabinets explored society’s obsession with order, pharmaceuticals, and consumerism. His work blurs the lines between art and science, whether through kaleidoscopic butterfly wings, taxidermied animals, or immersive installations like In and Out of Love, where live butterflies hatched and fluttered through the gallery.
His impact is undeniable—major retrospectives at Tate Modern and global exhibitions have cemented his status. In 2015, he opened Newport Street Gallery in London to share his vast art collection with the public, a fitting reflection of an artist who continues to disrupt, question, and redefine contemporary art.
