Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirstis an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists, who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest living artist, with his wealth valued at £215m in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List. During the 1990s his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, but increasing frictions came to...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth7 June 1965
I just wanted to find out where the boundaries were. So far I've found there aren't any. I just wanted to be stopped, and no one will stop me.
No, I don't believe in genius. I believe in freedom. I think anyone can do it. Anyone can be like Rembrandt.
I think if you've made it, why not name it?
I thought it might be nice to have a little line on the side going, just in case, of doing famous people's pets for them, in formaldehyde.
Whereas if you suddenly go, OK, I choose to die now, you take the matter into your own hands.
We have had some animal rights things but they all get the facts wrong so they have to go away looking a bit stupid.
You'd never look at a Rembrandt and say, 'That's just wood and canvas and paint - how much?!' It's all about how many people want it. It works on a pair of jeans as well - they're just material and stitching, and as soon as you walk out of the shop, they're worth nothing.
It's amazing what you can do with an E in A-level art, twisted imagination and a chainsaw.
To me it's like, this is the kind of world I live in and these are all the people who are artists who are doing what I'm doing, but in their own way.
There's a lot of things that people don't like, I think it'd be difficult for anyone to go in and say they didn't like the whole thing, because it's enjoyable, it's like a funfair, I hope.
Anything you can do with your hands and feet. Great.
I've seen things that are 200 years old, in formaldehyde.
She wasn't much to look at, but she was great to dance with.
One thing leads to another with my work.