Most artists are known for their mature body of work. With Mark Rothko you have color fields; John Chamberlain, sculptured car parts; James Turrell, light in space. Damien Hirst is one of the few artists whose mature repertoire cannot be confined or summed in a few words. To some, Hirst is the ‘diamond skull’ guy, to others, he’s the dot dude. He’s the pill cabinet guy, the butterfly master, and the shark taxonomist.
For me, he’s the man who successfully compounded and instilled simultaneous wonderment and terror in his 1991 masterpiece. The Physical Impossibility of Death in The Mind of Someone Living. His “Jaws” in formaldehyde was a pretty game changing moment for art history, both in the grandeur of the work itself and the condition, deterioration, and later replacement of the shark that theoretically changed the meaning of art in the public sphere.
He’s the pill cabinet guy, the butterfly master, and the shark taxonomist.
In recent years, Hirst has seemingly been on a mission for world domination, collaborating with some of our favorite designers along the way. His update on McQueen’s iconic skull scarf sold out in days and his collaboration with The Row—yes those $55,000 dot and pill-adorned backpacks—are still making us drool. But it’s his most recent venture that we’re ironically enthralled about: his first children’s book.
Sure, a gorgeous backpack worth more than my rent is pretty daydream worthy, but there’s something wonderful and simple about his alphabet book. Each letter represents a moment in Hirst’s career: D is for Diamonds, S is for Spin, J is for Jaws. The book is brilliant: it sums up the complexities and variation of his mature creations in such rudimentary and familiar form. The best part? We can now all own a little bit of Hirst without breaking the bank.
