Yesterday I travelled to London to visit two exhibitions, the first one being the largest Damien Hirst exhibition ever to take place in London. I found this exhibition to be incredible, after seeing a smaller show of Hirst's in 2011 in Leeds, where Hirst grew up. The London show brought together much of the artist's iconic work, spanning across much of his career. The rooms them self began in a chronological order, starting with work that Hirst produced during his time at Goldsmiths.
The exhibition also included work such as 'For the love of God' a platinum cast of a human skull embedded with diamonds and human teeth. This piece struck me for it seemed to be beautifying death, as can be seen with much of Hirst's work.
Other works on show were 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living'. A large shark contained in formaldehyde solution. The title of this piece really is what one feels when they are confronted with the work, although you are aware that you are completely safe, our mind gives of a feeling of being in danger.
I feel like I could write forever about this exhibition so instead, here are a Few more pictures from the show.
The second show I went to see was the Yayoi Kusama exhibition. This show like Hirst's started in chronological order. Starting first with Kusama's early paintings. Over the past 60 years Kusama has created a variety of work, becoming famous for her polka dots, which gained her the title ' Polka dot Princess'. Her work includes sculpure, painting, installation and performance. In her installations for instance Kusama invites us in to her view, covering a room in dots, which makes it appear that we are hallucinating.
