Damien Hirst is an english artist who rose to fame during the 1990’s. At the beginning of his career he was a painter and attended Goldsmiths College in London. Over the years Hirst has become somewhat controversial. This started with a series of work that brought a great deal of attention and often also criticism as the work displayed various animals such as a shark and cow submerged in formaldehyde. Hirst has also faced controversy throughout his career as some of his works have been called out for plagiarism.

However the series of work that relates to the idea of multiples are his spot paintings. These spot paintings are a stark contrast to Hirst’s previous works with dead animals. These paintings relate to the idea of multiples as the same subject matter is used in each one while the color and arrangement of the spots are what changes in each of the paintings. Hirst estimates that he has created a total of 1400 spot paintings. He first started the series in 1988 where he created the first five works on his own, but soon after began employing his assistants to help create the works as they are quite labor intensive. Below are some examples of Hirst’s spot paintings.

Cineole © Damien Hirst 2004

Dequalinium Chloride © Damien Hirst 2016

Citations

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Damien-Hirst

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/damien-hirst-2308

https://www.myartbroker.com/artist-damien-hirst/articles/damien-hirst-spot-paintings