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2022 Damien the art student 40x30in Laurence de Valmy.jpg

#storybehindtheart

The spot paintings are amongst Hirst’s most widely recognized works. On this POST, he shares a detail of the first spot work he did as a student in 1986 which is liked by his art school friend Mat Collishaw.

He wrote "My first ever Spot Painting was loose and painted with drippy paint, not minimal at all. (...) I was wrestling with what I originally thought of as the coldness of Minimalism and the more emotional, abstract expressionist painting style. At the time I painted it, it felt uncool and I abandoned it immediately for the rigidity of the grid."

He revisited this first painting in his recent series Currency NFT project.

His teacher Michael Craig Martin was key in helping to promote his students and attracting influencers to the exhibition Freeze in 1988 such as collector Charles Saatchi, curator Norman Rosenthal and Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate. The exhibition will launch his career and a new generation referred to as Young British Artists.

Sources: Damien Hirst Instagram account

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

Damien the art student, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 40"x 30" (102x76 cm)

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