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 hope that I can be kind of like the Beatles. I really like that kind of model. I like the way that without losing integrity they could change through fashion and not look back at the '60s and vomit when they saw what they'd done.
To be an artist is not about fame; it's about art, which is this intangible thing that has got to have lots of integrity, whereas being famous doesn't really take any integrity. But I think you have to admit that you want to be famous, otherwise you can't be an artist. Art and fame together are like a desire to live forever.
I've seen things that are 200 years old, in formaldehyde.
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.
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.
We have had some animal rights things but they all get the facts wrong so they have to go away looking a bit stupid.
One thing leads to another with my work.
She wasn't much to look at, but she was great to dance with.
I have a Californian girlfriend and she's into a lot of Californian bands so I listen to that.
Whenever I go to another city to do an art exhibition, the only way to get through it is to get drunk, because it's so similar to the last one.
The difference between art about death and actual death is that one's a celebration and the other's a dull fact.
People don't like contemporary art, but all art starts life as contemporary - I can't really see a difference.
It's good to have a title that's not just one word. If you're gonna title it, you might as well try and say something.