Damien Hirst, Walsall

About

Damien Hirst is the most famous, notorious, and influential of the generation of international successful British artists to emerge during the 1990s.

This year-long display of key works by Hirst placed his practice within the context of the New Art Gallery Walsall's Garman Ryan Collection, a permanent collection comprising 365 works prints, sketches, drawings, sculptures and paintings collected by Kathleen Garman (later wife of the sculptor Jacob Epstein) and life-long friend Sally Ryan. The collection's preoccupation with themes of birth, new life, fertility and the spiritual and religious offer a perfect counterpoint to Hirst's own evident fascination with human mortality, and offer an example of the innovative curatorial ideas that can be brought to bear within the framework of ARTIST ROOMS.

The gallery's groundbreaking programme run by young people, 'A Colourful Crowd', was inspired by the exhibition to organise 'Dead Day' at New Art Gallery Walsall, turning the venue into 'a playground of fun, interactive and educational activities'. Click here for more information on the programme.