Oh no, not another bloody Listicle! When I first got into writing drivel for advertising, using a numbered list format was frowned upon. Punchy headlines and compelling stories were acceptable. Lists were the province of headache pills and other boring products that no self-respecting copywriter touched, particularly if his or her novel of the century was tucked away in […]
The loads of people who know me as a boring old traditionalist (Turner Prize?! Yah boo hiss!) are always surprised when I say I actually love Jeff Koons. I really do, and enjoyed his new show, cleverly titled Now! at Damien Hirst’s gorgeously lovely wonderful awesome Newport Street Gallery. The reason being is that he […]
20 May 2016
The Jeff Koons exhibition, entitled with the single word ‘NOW’, is the latest exhibition to be presented in Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery, a series of beautiful spaces designed by architects Caruso St John. There is, in fact no nicer space for showing contemporary art now available in London. It knocks spots off (no pun intended) […]
Newport Street Gallery has unveiled ‘Now’, a solo exhibition of work by US artist Jeff Koons (b.1955), which opens to the public today, Wednesday 18th May 2016. To mark the opening of the exhibition, Newport Street Gallery will launch its new ‘Summer Lates’ opening hours, which will see the gallery remaining open until 10pm every Saturday […]
YBA Damien Hirst and super-dealer Larry Gagosian have settled their differences after a four year hiatus The worlds largest gallery chain have committed their entire space at Frieze New York, in May to solo an overview of works created by Hirst. “It will be a classical presentation—an early shark piece, instrument cabinet, medicine cabinet, butterfly painting…We wanted to […]
I‘ve spent many a year working in Knightsbridge and Belgravia, and the tell-tale signs of a cellar dig out – blocked off scaffolding with conveyor belts emerging into a skip – pop up like mushrooms in the area. The relative smallness of these works give no hint to just how massive the below caverns are becoming: […]
The Turner Prize winning Artist Damien Hirst has applied for further planning permission to build a mega basement under his Grade I listed Regent’s Park mansion, which has been nicknamed ‘San Simeon’ after W. R. Hurst’s castle in California. Hirst, 50, has filed a new planning application to accommodate a swimming pool, spa, yoga room and art gallery. It is […]
Imagine, if you will, the following scene (sepia tint optional): a young student Damien Hirst gazing wide eyed at John Hoyland’s brilliantly colourful and zingy Rothko-like abstracts at Leeds Art Gallery. One day, he thinks, I will be as great a painter as he. Fast forward a couple of decades, and Hirst hasn’t proved himself […]
The Newport Street Gallery has opened their doors today (8th October), to the public in Vauxhall, south London. The gallery is the brainchild of the mega-rich YBA artist Damien Hirst who now has a permanent space to house and display his vast art collection. Once the bad boy of the contemporary art world, Hirst seems […]
Damien Hirst’s much anticipated new private museum opens on Tomorrow with a solo exhibition of works by John Hoyland (1934–2011) – one of Britain’s leading abstract painters – will inaugurate Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery, which opens in Vauxhall, south London on 8th October 2015. The Newport Street Gallery is a free, not for profit arts center developed at a personal […]
Conceived by Damien Hirst and curated by Ordovas, ‘The Big Blue’ explores some of the ways in which the sea influences art, by looking at works that span many centuries from Roman times until today. Our intention is to offer an original and penetrating glimpse into a universal theme. “After the fascinating experience of working […]
Brian Sewell, the notorious British art critic, was a showman. He knew exactly how to play the part of critic. Stimulating, extreme in opinion, and extremely amusing. Sewell revelled in his own eccentricity, sharing his often outrageous opinions in the belief that others wished to do so but were lacking in honesty. He also believed […]
Regular readers will know of the special reserve of bile I harbour for one Damien Hirst: the businessman peddling ‘art’ in a beyond-cynical way that would make Warhol choke on or at the very least regurgitate a little his oft quoted adage “good business is the best art”. It’s most worrying that the innumerable people […]
In light of the recent and stunning images of Pluto taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager from a distance of 280,000 miles, we are reminded that the galaxy is a visually stunning place, but also a place where – in fact – art already exists, not only on our planet – but now […]
This summer Jerwood Gallery presents British artist, Rachel Howard, for her largest solo public gallery exhibition in the UK. The artist was Damien Hirst’s first spot painter, in the 1990s, she was Hirst’s first assistant, today the artist juggles a life as a sheep farmer, mother of four and generally declines interviews. But the artist […]
OK, so admittedly Damien Hirst is still very much with us… But what can you say about an artist’s life’s work when they have died penniless and relatively unknown? The best way to answer is to reverse the question: why does it matter a damn that a collective of individuals have over a certain period encountered an […]
Damien Hirst’s Charity (2002-2003), a seven metres tall sculpture will be installed next to St. Helen’s Church and opposite the Gherkin in London’s Square Mile, as part of the 2015 edition of Sculpture in the City (launching 9 July). The monumental artwork is modelled on The Spastic’s Society (now national disability charity Scope) collection boxes from the 1960s. It opens a dialogue about disability and how […]
Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery will open its inaugural exhibition with paintings by John Hoyland, who was – ironically – the British artist who objected to the Royal Academy’s 1997 Sensation exhibition of works by Young British Artists. The new show John Hoyland: Power Stations is due to open on 8 October (until 3 April […]
Morbid question one: if Damien Hirst fell into a vat of formaldehyde tomorrow, how would this affect the monetary value of his works? The ultimate art-businessman has, like most on Artlyst’s reel of richest artists, become so having found a brand-formula which happened to become recognised, sought-after, a sure-fire investment. Except the trouble with having […]
Sculpture in the City, the dynamic yearly public art exhibition in the City of London, returns this summer with a selection of contemporary art pieces placed in and around the Square Mile. Launching on the 9 July, the exhibition will include works from internationally renowned artists including Damien Hirst, Sigalit Landau, and Bruce Beasley. In […]
Does fine art still have political teeth? Remember, if you will, such historical examples as Delacroix’s ‘Victory Leading the People’, the cautionary tales of corruption by Hogarth, or the savage cartoons of James Gillray, to pluck from the vast array of politically charged fine art. Yet as a medium for change it has effectively died […]
Given the range of names appearing in Artlyst’s forged artists countdown, you would be forgiven for thinking that the measure of an artist who has finally ‘made it’ is one who has been copied, and copied by stealth and deceit for monetary gain. For the driving influence behind why forgeries are made exists outside the […]
Rembrandt, unlike Vermeer who made extraordinary universes out of small rooms in the provincial town of Delft, needed to leave his native Leiden for Amsterdam in order to drape his sitters in exotic costumes and enjoy the worldly benefits that his remarkable talent afforded him. Slowly, from clean, crisp portraits and history paintings, atmosphere crept […]
Damien Hirst’s company Science UK LTD, has placed an advert for photo-realist painters. The ad, posted on the Jobs section of the Guardian, lists the following requirements for any applicant: “Experience of working with oil paint necessary, good colour matching skills, and attention to detail are essential for this position. Candidates must have a BA […]
According to the daughter of Henry Moore – the artist who transformed the nature of British sculpture forever – Damien Hirst has set back art by 100 years. Mary Moore said her father had challenged the narrative and how art was formally-presented, which had dated back to the Victorian era. “What he did was come […]
Zabludowicz Collection is to present a new major exhibition featuring over 30 leading international artists, including eight Turner Prize winners, to celebrate 20 years of pioneering activity. Bringing together significant works, many never before seen in the UK, the exhibition reflects the attitude of bold experimentation that defines the Zabludowicz Collection. Founded in 1994 by […]
Every year for the past 18 years English photographer Johnnie Shand Kydd has photographed the art scene as they holiday on the Greek island of Hydra each summer, photographing artists, curators and writers who have been invited to vacation at the British art collector Pauline Karpidas’ holiday home on the Greek island of Hydra. The […]
In my best Sam the Eagle voice: “Sales is vanity, profit is sanity”. Splashed all over the art newspapers this week were the impressive sales figures of Christie’s Surrealism auction, where lots sold for a combined total of £147m, (Write it in full: £147,031,000.00 – oooh look how titillatingly long that is!), with Miró’s ‘Women, […]
Damien Hirst is celebrating Valentine’s Day in the form of a pop-up exhibition at Paul Stolper, presenting LOVE, an exhibition of prints and sculptural editions by the artist. The exhibition will run over Valentine’s Day, and focuses exclusively on the theme of love. The exhibition includes ‘LOVE Gold’, a portfolio of love-heart prints, each foil […]
When you think of Damien Hirst you usually think of rotting cows heads, sharks, skulls, dead flies, spots, and general principles of vanitas and death – you wouldn’t necessarily associate Britain’s richest artist, who is thought to be worth around £215 million, with the lovey-doviness of Valentine’s Day, as usually the only heart on display […]
Turner Contemporary presents the exhibition ‘Self’ which posits the question, in a world where ‘selfies’ have become everyday expressions and ‘Britishness’ is being redefined, what is the role of self-portraiture and how has it shifted through the history of art to the present day? The ‘selfie’ has become a frame through which self-portraiture is re-evaluated […]
Art Stage Singapore, the premier art fair in Southern Asia opened its fifth edition, on January 22 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Featuring 145 galleries, 34 of which are Singapore-based, the fair has a strong foundation of Asia-based exhibitors, and states that it strives to bridge the various art epicentres across […]