Gagosian Gallery presents “The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011” by Damien Hirst.
I was always a colorist, I’ve always had a phenomenal love of color I mean, I just move color around on its own. So that’s where the spot paintings came from to create that structure to do those colors, and do nothing. I suddenly got what I wanted. It was just a way of pinning down the joy of color.
Damien Hirst
Gagosian Gallery presents “The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011” by Damien Hirst.
This new exhibition takes place at once across all of Gagosian Gallery’s eleven locations in New York (at three locations), London, Paris, Los Angeles, Rome, Athens, Geneva, Hong Kong, and even Beverly Hills (watch out Housewives). Opening worldwide on January 12, 2012 and running until February 18 (in New York locations). Private individuals and public institutions, comprising more than 150 different lenders from twenty countries, are lending most of the paintings. The show has been conceived as a single exhibition in multiple locations.
Included in the exhibition are more than 300 paintings, from the first spot on board that Hirst created in 1986; to the smallest spot painting comprising half a spot and measuring 1 x 1/2 inch (1996); to a monumental work comprising only four spots, each 60 inches in diameter; and up to the most recent spot painting completed in 2011 containing 25,781 spots that are each 1 millimeter in diameter, with no single color ever repeated.
This is a great opportunity to view Hirst’s early work. And, for the squeamish, the show is free of dead cows, sharks, and flies. The gallery is also having “The Complete Spot Challenge” visit all eleven Gagosian Gallery locations during the exhibition and receive a signed spot print by the artist, dedicated personally to you. While at the galleries, stock up on your “Spot Painting” lapel pins, coffee mugs, and wall clocks.
For more information about the Hirst show, the “Spot Challenge,” and a free app, visit Gagosian Gallery.
