WENG CONTEMPORARY

SEARCH

Search
EUR
Spirit-Damien Hirst-1

The animal kingdom has always been a source of inspiration for Damien Hirst, and this piece, entitled “Spirit”, representing a black and white butterfly against a black background, is another such example. In this print, part of his famous Butterfly's series, Hirst takes all signs of life from his butterfly and has it, instead, looking like a piece from a collection in a wunderkammer. For Hirst, the butterfly is a symbol of the beauty and fragility of life. This appeal is created largely by the appearance of life they retain in death. As the tension between the artwork and the title, the use of a metaphor to encompass it, "Spirit" alludes to the intimate human belief in spirituality.

“ The way the real butterfly can destroy the ideal (birthday-card) kind of love; the symbol exists apart from the real thing. „

Damien Hirst