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28 June 2011

Countdown begins to Damien Hirst exhibition

Leeds City Gallery will host the first-ever major free public display of Damien Hirst’s work to be held in the city where he grew up and studied.

The exhibition showcasing works by the world-famous artist opens on Friday 15 July and will include the iconic ‘Away from the Flock’, one of Hirst’s signature pieces of animals suspended in formaldehyde which shot him to international prominence in the early 1990s. Other works on show include a large cabinet piece ‘Trinity – Pharmacology, Physiology, Pathology’ (2000), ‘Monument to the Living and the Dead’ (2006), large ‘butterfly’ painting and a spot painting from 1994.

The key ideas which have underpinned Hirst’s career - birth, illness, death and religion – will all be identifiable in the display, which has been boosted by items on loan from private collections including ‘Anatomy of an Angel’ carved from carrara marble, and ‘He Tried to Internalise Everything’ from the Arts Council Collection. Hirst’s recent work is also included as the display will contain A Poison Painting diptych from Hirst’s ‘Poison’ series from 2010.

The ARTIST ROOMS display will reflect the development of Hirst’s career from his student days which began at Leeds College of Art and Design to his later works after he had established himself as one of the world’s highest-profile artists.

In addition to the ARTIST ROOMS display, a world-first will also see items from Hirst’s London restaurant ‘Pharmacy’ on display. The Notting Hill restaurant, which was open from 1998 to 2003, was co-owned by Hirst who embedded his art in all aspects of the interior design in one of the most groundbreaking working art installations of the late 20th century. Following the closure of Pharmacy the contents were dispersed through a Sotheby’s sale but in a major coup elements of the restaurant have now been brought back together to be shown as a gallery display for the first time ever as part of the Leeds exhibition.

Visit the Leeds Art Gallery site for more information

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