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
People always say that my work is sensational or shocking but there are truly shocking things you could do, and my sculptures don't go anywhere near that.
Museums are for dead artists. I'd never show my work in the Tate. You'd never get me in that place.
The idea of going on tour for the rest of my life with old works is not that exciting. As an artist I definitely think the work in future is going to be better than the work in the past, otherwise why do it?
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.
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.