Damien HirstButterfly Spin Painting, 2009 Acrylic on paper painting by Damien Hirst2009
2009
About the Item
Damien Hirst (1965) Butterfly Spin Painting (2009) acrylic and metallic paint on paper 21 h × 27 w in (53 × 69 cm) Signed and stamped with Damien Hirst's studio's blindstamp; stamped with the artist's signature and copyright, dated 2009 on the reverse. Executed in 2009, this work was made on the occasion of Damien Hirst's exhibition, Requiem, held at the Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev in April 2009.
PROVENANCE:
Private Collection Japan
Mallet Art Auction, Tokyo, Japan
Acquired from the above
Executed on the occasion of Hirst’s landmark exhibition Requiem at the Pinchuk Art Centre in Kiev, this Butterfly Spin Painting unites two of the artist’s most iconic motifs: the butterfly and the spin painting.
The butterfly has long been central to Hirst’s practice, symbolizing both beauty and the transience of life. Its delicate form evokes fragility, while its natural brilliance suggests transcendence and the possibility of eternal renewal — themes directly tied to Hirst’s enduring preoccupation with mortality and the spiritual. By rendering the butterfly not with actual wings but through the centrifugal gestures of his spin technique, Hirst transforms the natural emblem into a painterly apparition, blurring the line between organic life and artistic invention.
The spin process, with its connotations of chance, spectacle, and childlike play, contrasts sharply with the butterfly’s traditional associations with fragility and the soul. Yet in their fusion, the work captures Hirst’s fascination with the coexistence of life and death, order and chaos, science and belief. The radiating bands of vivid color suggest vitality and exuberance, while the butterfly’s symmetrical silhouette anchors the image within the artist’s ongoing meditation on the fleeting nature of existence.
- Creator:Damien Hirst (1965, British)
- Creation Year:2009
- Dimensions:Height: 21 in (53.34 cm)Width: 27 in (68.58 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:In very good condition. Some minor scuffs, visible under close inspection. A few pinholes and soiling on the reverse, as issued.
- Gallery Location:Hong Kong, HK
- Reference Number:Seller: DH-0081stDibs: LU1545217041352
Damien Hirst
British artist Damien Hirst is widely considered the enfant terrible of contemporary art. He is the most prominent of the so-called Young British Artists, or YBAs, a group, largely composed of Hirst’s classmates at Goldsmiths, in London, that began exhibiting together in warehouses and factories after 1988 and is known for the use of unconventional materials and “shock tactics” in his paintings, prints, sculptures and other works.
In the 1990s, Hirst said, “I can’t wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it.” And indeed, he is notorious for piquing critics and baffling the public with such pieces as his signature glass vitrines containing dead sheep or sharks in formaldehyde, and his diamond-encrusted skull, For the Love of God.
Working primarily in sculpture, Hirst takes after French modernist master Marcel Duchamp in his use of ready-made objects and materials, which he combines to ironic effect. He often creates in series, as with "The Cure (Violet)" and "The Cure (Turquoise)," both from 2014, which are among several pill paintings referencing Andy Warhol’s embrace of mass production.
Belonging to Hirst's ongoing series of “spot” paintings, begun in the 1980s, the 2005 piece Xylene Cyanol Dye Solution is striking for its machinelike, industrial uniformity and almost childlike simplicity, a seeming rebuke to the idea of the artist-as-genius.
In addition to making art, Hirst has launched stores that sell editioned works (Other Criteria), a restaurant (Pharmacy2) and even his own London museum (Newport Street Gallery).
Find original Damien Hirst paintings, prints and other works on 1stDibs.
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