Art Attack! Damien Hirst, b. 1965

Damien Hirst, Mother and Child, Divided, 1993 Steel, GRP composites, glass, silicone sealants, cow, calf, formaldehyde solution; dimensions variable

Damien Hirst with Away from the Flock, 1994

Mother and Child Divided, 2007 at the Tate Modern

'For 1,000 years art has been one of our great civilising forces,' the newspaper commented. Today[1995],, pickled sheep and soiled beds threaten to make barbarians of us all.'

Mental Contradictions in Man’s Existence “I am going to die and I want to live for ever. I can't escape the fact and I can't let go of the desire” Damien Hirst

Art that shocks? “…not so much to thrust his work in the public eye, but rather to make aspects of life and death visible”not so much to thrust his work in the public eye, but rather to make aspects of life and death visible Damien Hirst

She admires the way in which Hirst's originality has brought art to an entirely fresh audience: 'He's bringing people into the gallery who'd never otherwise go.' Raises Profile of Contemporary Art? Janet Street-Porter, BAFTA Award-Nominated British editor, journalist, media personality, television presenter and producer

This is contemptible! 'I don't think of it as art. I don't think pickling something and putting it into a glass case makes it a work of art... It is no more interesting than a stuffed pike over a pub door. Indeed there may well be more art in a stuffed pike than a dead sheep. I really cannot accept the idiocy that "the thing is the thing is argument they can produce. It's contemptible.' Brian Sewell, art critic of London Evening Standard

For Hirst’s Art H/hirst/for.html

Against Hirst’s Art H/hirst/against.html