Damien Hirst has donated 50 specially made signed, limited edition lithographs to comic relief. They depict his famous diamond-encrusted skull, complete with a red nose. This is all in aid of the charity Comic Relief and it is hoped that it will raise over £125,000 in proceeds. The print titled “For The Love of Comic Relief” goes on display at Tate Modern tomorrow.
In an interview with the BBC Hirst stated; “I thought years ago about trying to do an exhibition of art that made you laugh, “I had an idea once, a long time ago, to do a huge sculpture that was going to be a human poo, seven foot tall and forty foot long. “I was going to make it the most perfect human poo you could make, in bronze and then put it outside somewhere. And I was going to call it Untitled (No. 2). “I made a model – I just never made it,” he said, adding that he may still revive the idea. “I think it’s a great piece of art,” he added. “It forces people to look at things that maybe they are not that keen on looking at, but it’s healthy and it means you’re well and it’s a beautiful object.”
“There are some really great funny artworks, though I don’t make many of them;” He added.
The prints are portrait sized at 20 x 24 inches (unframed) and are being sold for £2500 each. One hundred per cent of the proceeds from the sale of each print will go directly to Comic Relief.
Damien Hirst was born in Bristol in 1965. He studied at Goldsmiths College in London and first came to public attention in 1988 when he conceived and curated “Freeze,” an exhibition of his work and that of his friends and fellow students at Goldsmiths. In the near quarter century since that pivotal show, Hirst has become one of the most prominent artists of his generation. Many of his works are widely recognized, from the shark suspended in formaldehyde, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991) and his spot, spin and butterfly paintings, through to later works such as the diamond skull For the Love of God (2007). Of the latter, the art historian Rudi Fuchs has said, “The skull is out of this world, celestial almost. At the same time it represents death as something infinitely more relentless. Compared to the tearful sadness of a vanitas scene, the diamond skull is glory itself.”
One of the 50 limited edition lithographic prints will be hung in the Tate Modern, from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th February, on level 0, for the public to see.