Damien Hirst appears as 'dark overlord of contemporary art' in sinister new Jonathan Yeo portrait
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A portrait of Damien Hirst by Jonathan Yeo will be go on display later this year at the National Portrait Gallery.
The sinister portrait shows Hirst looking directly at the viewer, dressed in a chemical dry suit and holding a mask, which he wears to make his formaldehyde works.
Click here for more pictures of Jonathan Yeo's portraits
Yeo and Hirst, who have wildly different artistic backgrounds, worked together to choose the latter's controversial attire.
Yeo, who is best known for his painted portraits of Tony Blair and a pregnant Sienna Miller, said the outfit and composition were intentionally obscure.
"Even when we realise it's a chemical dry suit, it's not entirely clear if Hirst is making something or whether he is being pickled in one of his own tanks," he said.
“The pose was intended to reflect ironically his supposed status as dark overlord of the Contemporary Art scene.
He added: “Ultimately his faint smirk is the giveaway, both that he was a knowing collaborator in the choice of composition, and that his mischievous sense of humour is never far from anything he does.”
Hirst, whose art centres more on sculpture and installation, said: “Yeo time and time again achieves what should be impossible: creating a true picture, an image or a glimpse, of people we think we know and of those we’ve never met.”
The portrait will go on show as part of the National Portrait Gallery’s upcoming exhibition of Yeo’s work, a retrospective of his portrait work to date.
The exhibition will include drawings of the party leaders on the 2001 general election campaign trail, private studies of his family and portraits of well-known figures including Miller, Rupert Murdoch and another fellow contemporary artist Grayson Perry.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments