Danh Vo’s objects are unremarkable without history. We can debate until Miami freezes about over the place of artworks that don’t do much visually, that make references so opaque you have to a) be a specialist or b) have the work explained to you by an outside aid. Vo’s challenges to our assumptions about art are as frustrating as they are exciting.
Damien Hirst
Why Doesn’t the UK Want Charles Saatchi’s Art Collection?
Well, here’s a conundrum you don’t face everyday: famed art collector Charles Saatchi wants to donate his collection of contemporary work to his home country, the UK, but they don’t seem to want it. (First-world problems!)
The Effects of Jaws, a Classic Turns 37
Truth be told, Jaws changed things. And tomorrow the film turns 37.
Social Media Popularity Contest: Cindy Sherman v Damien Hirst
At the moment of their retrospectives, which artist is more popular: Cindy Sherman, now at the MoMA, or Damien Hirst at Tate Modern? Let’s see what social media has to say on the topic.
Damien Hirst Brands a London Restaurant
World-renowned artist Damien Hirst created two art works for a new London restaurant that opened last week, Tramshed.
The Impossible Curation of Schiaparelli and Prada
It’s inevitable not to compare the new show at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute to last year’s blockbuster, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, however unfair that might be. But it doesn’t matter, because Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, a pairing of two disparate designers that gives far too much precedence to the latter, falls flat, regardless of what preceded it.
How To Talk About Art: Jeff Koons Edition
With plans in the offing for Jeff Koons’s astounding “Train” to dangle preposterously over the heedless noggins of visitors to the High Line, it might just be a good time to polish up your talking points regarding the greatest of all kitsch artists.
Choice Quotes from Damien Hirst’s Guardian Interview
Some notable quotations from this Guardian interview with the richest artist in the world — his wealth is estimated at £215m (approx. $336m) …
Is Damien Hirst Lazy?
A spotted judgment pops up on the streets of Paris. And someone goes in stoned (we think) to the Hirst show in LA.
David Hockney Disses Hirst, Now Former Professor Trashes Him
The Brit-gone-LA artist was grabbing headlines earlier this month for his supposed swipe against Damien Hirst but now it’s his turn to take criticism from someone who knows his work, a former professor.
The Immaculate Conception of Damien Hirst
“You do know, don’t you, that even well-meaning people are pawns for the powerful, and when it comes right down to it, humans are best thought of as oversized prawns waiting to be plucked from their beds of ice? Personally, I like to methodically squeeze the plumpest and pinkest ones between my thumb and forefinger, really smooth them out, before swallowing them whole.”
I dreamt that I met the famous and powerful Hollywood gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper. She was tired of lying around in Rose Hill Permanent Rest Stop and wondered if she could get her old job back.
Spotty Comments of the Day: Hirst-a-palooza
We’ve collected some of the most interesting comments we’ve received on the Hirst spot paintings. Almost everyone hates them but the reasons are always different.