I first saw Damien Hirst’s work at the Brooklyn Art Museum in an exhibit that Rudy Giuliani tried to shut down. I still have the “Danger:Art” magnet promoting the show on the refrigerator. Hirst’s piece in that show was a dead cow displayed in slices. The exhibit also included Chris Ofili’s madonna decorated with dung, a work that was defaced by an offended spectator.
You might want to check out Hirst’s commercial venture, Other Criteria.
A 35ft-tall, 13-and-a-half-ton Damien Hirst statue revealing the insides of a pregnant woman has been unveiled at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
The Virgin Mother has layers removed on one side to reveal the foetus and the woman’s skull, muscles and tissue.
The BBC News website was given first look at the statue, part of the gallery’s Summer Exhibition, From Life.
Head of the exhibition Edith Devaney said: “It will be very interesting to see people’s reactions.”