No no no!

Sweater featuring artwork by Damien Hirst

There’s a guy called Alec Weitl who spends his time photoshopping images onto sweaters.  These sweaters don’t actually exist.  Rather, Weitl uploads them to a tumblr site for hipsters the world over to admire. The monstrosity above, of course, is a reproduction of Damien Hirst’s vacuous £50m diamond encrusted skull, ‘For the Love of God’ (2007).  With plans to go into production, LOL wonders; who would actually wear this?!

And for further musings on Hirst’s ‘glittery bauble’; nothing beats the vitriole of the late Robert Hughes (below).

Monday Viewing

Here’s Damien Hirst being interviewed by spunky Noel Fielding on the eve of the artist’s mega retrospective at Tate Modern last year.  The clip features other famous talking heads like Bono, Ronnie Wood and art critic Brian Sewell, whose furious anti-Hirst tirades steal the show.

Artists Ditch Gagosian

Larry Gagosian & Damien Hirst have parted ways

Larry Gagosian is facing the loss of two of his most well known artists.  Last week Damien Hirst’s company Science Limited announced; “Larry Gagosian and Damien have reached an amicable decision to part company.”  It was only in January that Gagosian committed to showing the artist’s complete suite of spot paintings at all Gagosian galleries worldwide.  The dealer has represented Hirst for 17 years.

Hirst’s departure was followed a day later by that of Yayoi Kusama, who has shown with Gagosian since 2009.  (Another Gagosian artist – Jeff Koons – is still ostensibly in the stable, but has lined up a solo show at rival gallery David Zwirner in the New Year).  In the mean time, Hirst and Kusama continue to be represented by White Cube and Victoria Miro/Ota Fine Arts respectively.

Do not want

Luxury backpacks by Hirst & the Olsen twins

So here’s a not-so-great art/fashion collab.  This time between the insipid, possum-eyed Olsen twins and Damien Hirst.  Together, they’ve created a range of ‘luxury backpacks’ for Mary Kate & Ashley’s fashion line, The Row.  Peppered with Hirst-brand polka dots and prescription pills (and the artist’s signature too, of course), one of these little numbers will set you back US$55,000.  Only 12 have been made.  But no need to feel too guilty about your outrageous purchase, a ‘significant portion’ of each sale goes to UNICEF…

Damien’s Formaldehyde Factory

Artist's rendition of Hirst's new art factory based on architectural drawings of the site.

According to the Daily Mail, Damien Hirst is allegedly building a new ‘art factory’ on the edge of a housing estate in Gloucestershire.  The size of 34 tennis courts, the custom-built, high security plant’s sole purpose is to preserve dead animals in formaldehyde, converting them into lucrative – and rather banal – artworks. (This is a technique Hirst first made famous in 1991 with his key work, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living).

Locals are less than impressed with the prospect of having an ‘abattoir’ on their doorstep and have petitioned against its construction, which would bring carcinogenic formaldehyde within metres of their homes.  Not only that, they can expect a steady stream of lorries ferrying dead animals to the site, where they’ll be fork-lifted into the space before being  dipped into chemical baths.  But it’s not all bad – the factory’s said to be solar powered, carbon neutral and will even contain a fancy dining room for special guests (provided the  slaughterhouse atmosphere doesn’t kill their appetite…).

Hennessy Slams Hirst

Last week Larry Gagosian launched one of his most ambitious projects to date: all eleven of his galleries across 3 continents have been simultaneously filled with the collected spot paintings of Damien Hirst.  The critical response to this audacious venture has been lukewarm at best, but internet sensation Hennessy Youngman a.k.a Philadelphia artist Jayson Musson’s critique (above)  takes the cake. Describing the suite of exhibitions as “The perfect storm of banality”, Youngman proceeds to pan Hirst’s cheesy PR poses – particularly his open mouthed ‘Sharkface’ – and goes on to suggest that Hirst is as big a “tw*t” as Bono. Ouch.

Zhukova Backs Skin

Russian billionaire Dasha Zhukova loves ink. When she released her art/fashion crossover magazine Garage (named after her Moscow-based contemporary art space) in August, she got the likes of Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Jake and Dinos Chapman, John Baldessari and Paul McCarthy to design tattoos to feature in the first issue.  Now she’s backing Skin, a new documentary about tattoo culture directed by filmmaker Ryan Hope.  While the trailer above doesn’t give much away, the doco follows the experience of five ‘human canvases’ who allowed themselves to be tattooed with designs by artists including  the aforementioned Hirst and Koons as well as Richard Prince and Raymond Pettibon.  Following its recent debut at The Garage in Moscow, Skin will screen at Christies in London on November 16^th.

Garage – The Magazine

Damien Hirst's cover for the first issue of 'Garage'

Russian socialite and Garage co-founder Dasha Zhukova has released an art/fashion crossover magazine named after her Moscow-based art space.  Dinos Chapman, Richard Prince and Damien Hirst have each created a cover for the first issue, with Hirst’s contribution causing such an uproar that it’s been banned by some UK newsagents.  Why?  Hirst’s cover (photographed by Hedi Slimane) features a woman’s crotch covered by a green butterfly sticker.  Peel it off – a la Warhol’s Velvet Underground cover art – and you’re left with a vagina tattooed to Hirst’s specifications.

And how does the recipient feel about all of this? The 23 year old stated “I would have been stupid not to be part of this project. I have a piece of art on my vagina. Not one single person can ever say they gave birth through a Damien Hirst piece of art. I can [if I ever give birth].”

View the other covers here.

Not So Red Hot

The cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's forthcoming album, 'I'm With You'

So there’s a new Red Hot Chili Peppers album coming out, big deal.  It’s not surprising that their mediocre music is accompanied by an equally uninspired album cover (above).  But guess who the creative genius is behind it?  None other than Damien Hirst.  Given the stacks of cash the label would have had to fork out for this, you’d think he could have made more of an effort.  After all, Hirst’s pills are so 2005.

Robert Hughes tells it like it is