What the critics are saying about Damien Hirst
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.'Malaise is a word one wants to use a lot around Hirst . . . I stand in awe of Hirst the impresario: for all its resonance, he must be well aware of what a visual downer most of his work is' - Richard Dorment, Daily Telegraph.
'Hirst calls his dead sheep Away From the Flock and that, in the context, looks like something of an admission. The work is really another kind of self-portrait . . . a small bleat of discontent' - Andrew Graham-Dixon, the Independent.
'It's as though he wishes to make operatic gestures within the art gallery as a substitute for art itself. I grant that he's a successful publicist. When have so many column inches been filled with so little?'
Tim Hilton, Independent
on Sunday.
'It is a sheep from a dream. It hovers in the white framed tank, a miracle of suspended animation. Its cleansed wool is a luminous cumulus cloud, good enough to wear. What Hirst seems to be saying is that because death is a fact of life, all art can do is offer small mercies. Through the agency of art, a beautiful shard has been saved' - James Hall, the
Guardian.
'One of his projected works, which he admits he will probably never be able to make, would consist of the bodies of a man and a woman coupling, but sawn vertically through the middle, 'so you could walk through the halves' ' - Martyn Harris, Daily
Telegraph.
'He has worked with a cow and a calf. Each is cut in half and pickled in a pair of perspex tanks. But these carcasses haven't quite got their act together, and don't really come off. The eyes of the cow and calf are closed, so they look exactly what they are - lumps of dead meat' - James Hall, the
Guardian.
'I know it sounds corny, but you feel you are in the presence of a real artist. He's in touch with his time' - Larry Gagosian, a New York art dealer (quoted in Daily Telegraph by Jon Stock).
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments