In 1988, Damien Hirst presented his Spot Paintings during the third and final stage of ‘Freeze’, of which he was the main organizer. The exhibition will launch his career and a new generation referred to as Young British Artists.

The spot paintings are amongst Hirst’s most widely recognized works and he said “To create that structure, to do those colours, and do nothing. I suddenly got what I wanted. It was just a way of pinning down the joy of colour.”

On this POST he shares a detail of the first spot work on canvas ‘Untitled (with Black Dot)’ (1988) – the only painting ever to have incorporated a black dot. His teacher Michael Craig Martin was key in helping to promote his students and attracting influencers to the exhibition such as collector Charles Saatchi, curator Norman Rosenthal and Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate

« I encouraged people to go and see the work. I would .never have done this if I hadn't believed the show was of exceptional interest”

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Sources: Damien Hirst and Gordon Burn, ‘On the Way to Work’, (Faber and Faber, 2001),

Sherwin, Brian. "Art Space Talk: Michael Craig-Martin", Myartspace, 16 August 2007.