Damien Hirst (b. 1965), a leading figure of the Young British Artists who emerged in late 1980s London, is among the most provocative artists of his generation. He has challenged the boundaries of fine art and taste with works such as sculptures of dead animals preserved in formaldehyde, mass-produced-looking spot paintings fetching millions, and the extravagant For the Love of God (2007), a human skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds. Across installations, sculptures, drawings, and paintings, Hirst probes themes of religion, mortality, and desire. Since curating the groundbreaking “Freeze” exhibition in 1988 alongside his Goldsmiths College peers, his work has been featured in major shows at Tate Modern, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In 2008, he made headlines with Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, an auction selling his work directly to the public, earning roughly $200 million. Individual pieces have surpassed $10 million at auction.

BIOGRAPHY