Jason Beard – författare

Hirst’s Psalm paintings allude to Gothic stained glass windows and the circular patterns of Buddhist mandalasThis beautifully illustrated book constitutes a comprehensive survey of Damien Hirst's Psalm paintings. The 150 works in the series are made up of iridescent butterfly wings and paint on canvas, which combine to form kaleidoscopic patterns reminiscent of Gothic stained glass windows. Dating from 2008, the paintings address some of Hirst's most enduring and important themes: beauty, art, belief, life and death. Each of the fully illustrated paintings is accompanied by the Old Testament prayer from which its title is derived, the text rendered on images of individually selected marble samples. Also included is a complete list of works, and essays by art writers Michael Bracewell and Amie Corry. In his essay, Bracewell writes: "The Psalm paintings can't help but bring together, in literal form, such fundamental concepts as beauty, and power over death through prayer and belief, while simultaneously seeming to propose solely their own—albeit spectacular—abstraction. As they take their place within the greater canon of Hirst's art, these paintings extend his fascination with natural history and the potentially synonymous relationships between life, death, art and 'beauty,' and the language of Christian faith and religion." The Complete Psalm Paintings is an exquisite companion to one of Hirst's most beautiful series.Damien Hirst was born in Bristol in 1965. He first came to public attention in 1988 when he conceived and curated Freeze, an exhibition of his own work and that of his contemporaries staged in an abandoned London warehouse. Since then Hirst has become widely recognized as one of the most influential artists of his generation. Alongside over 80 solo exhibitions, he has worked on numerous curatorial projects. In 2008, Hirst took the unprecedented step of bypassing gallery involvement by selling 244 new works at a Sotheby's, London auction. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995 and received a major solo retrospective at Tate Modern, London. He lives in Devon, England.

"Breakfast at The Wolseley gave Damien and I the perfect opportunity to discuss the business of the day," remembers Frank Dunphy, Damien Hirst's business manager, "the bow-tied super-ego to Mr. Hirst's id," as The Wall Street Journal has described him. "Always on time, Damien would first hold out his hand for a pen or pencil and would then begin sketching on the back of his placemat." Portraits of Frankis published to coincide with Dunphy's retirement after almost 15 years with the artist. Seen here for the first time, Hirst's portraits were sketched during the pair's regular breakfast meetings at the famous Wolseley restaurant in London between 2004 and 2010. They provide a touching illustration of Frank and Damien's collaborative relationship as it unfolded over the course of some of the most extraordinary years of the artist's career.

In 2014, Damien Hirst (born 1965) unveiled a new series of "paintings" composed of vast numbers of surgical instruments, which combine to form bird's-eye views of cities from around the world. With these Black Scalpel Cityscapes, Hirst investigates subjects pertaining to the sometimes disquieting realities of modern life--surveillance, urbanization, globalization and the virtual nature of conflict--as well as those relating to the human condition in general, such as our inability to arrest physical decay. Buildings, rivers and roads are rendered as scalpels, razor blades, hooks and safety pins. Described by the artist as "portraits of living cities," the full series is illustrated in this volume and accompanied by detail illustrations. Also included is an essay by Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps, and a short story by novelist and arts writer Michael Bracewell.

This book highlights the connection between Damien Hirst (born 1965) and the British modernist artist Margaret Mellis (1914–2009), who became a close friend and mentor to the YBA protagonist during the development of his early career. In the 1980s Hirst made regular visits to Mellis' home and studio in Southwold, on the North Sea coast of England, where he spent much time studying her beautiful drawings of "half-dead flowers" on envelopes and driftwood assemblages fashioned from her beachcombing forays. In 2001 Hirst expressed the view that she had been unjustly neglected and deserved to be "up there—large on the map with her contemporaries"; their works were first exhibited side by side at the Tate in 2008. Alongside reproductions of assemblages and drawings by Mellis and Hirst, this volume includes a reproduction of a letter written to Hirst by Mellis from c. 1987, and an essay on Mellis by Hirst.

From Bacon and Burroughs to Halley and Lucas: the art collection of Damien HirstThis unique publication presents a varied selection of works from Damien Hirst’s personal collection, including early pieces by Haim Steinbach, paintings by Francis Bacon, sculptures by Sarah Lucas, Peter Halley’s signature Day-Glo geometric canvases, large-scale works by Gary Hume and one of William S. Burroughs’ shotgun paintings. Other highlights include works by John Currin, Sherrie Levine, Helen Frankenthaler, Jeff Koons, Jannis Kounellis, Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol and Franz West.This sleek, colorful, hardcover volume contains four fold-out sections and full-color plates. Accompanying the plates is an extract from a rare Burroughs text, “Painting and Guns,” first published by the cult American publisher Hanuman Books in 1992, in which Burroughs discusses the making of his shotgun art, and the relationship between painting and writing.

Rediscovering the sombre oeuvre of a little-known School of London painterKeith Cunningham (1929–2014) was an elusive member of the School of London alongside Bacon and Auerbach. His paintings are coated in layers of dense, sculptural brushstrokes and populated by skulls, fighting dogs and human figures. This publication offers a rediscovery of his oeuvre, featuring reproductions of over 70 works.

The work of renowned painter and sculptor Gary Hume is characterized by his invigorating use of radiant panes of glossy colour. In his first major monograph the artist's rich, affecting work is granted new life in over 200 full-colour illustrations. Using imagery as diverse as polar bears, snowmen and supermodels, Hume turns ephemera into striking portraits and abstract landscapes – the paintings are simplistic yet engaging, blending a charming naivety with a sophisticated grasp of the colour wheel, all of which confirms Hume's position as one of Britain's most celebrated artists.While Hume's trademark use of gloss planes creates a reduced texture, the flatness of his form and composition combines to suggest an air of melancholy.

In 2014, Damien Hirst (born 1965) unveiled a new series of paintings made up of vast numbers of surgical instruments that combine to form bird's-eye views of cities from around the world. With the Black Scalpel Cityscapes, Hirst investigates subjects pertaining to the sometimes-disquieting realities of modern life--surveillance, urbanization, globalization and the virtual nature of conflict--as well as those relating to the human condition in general, such as our inability to arrest physical decay. Described by the artist as "portraits of living cities," the series is illustrated in full and accompanied by a comprehensive list of artwork details in this signed limited edition, which features a black zipper down the spine. The volume also includes an essay by Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps, and a fictional short story by novelist and arts writer Michael Bracewell.

Published on the occasion of the inaugural exhibition at Newport Street Gallery, built to house work from Damien Hirst’s art collection, John Hoyland: Power Stations provides a fascinating insight into the life and work of one of Britain’s leading abstract painters. Renowned for his intuitive manipulation of color, form and texture, John Hoyland (1934–2011) saw nonfigurative imagery as offering "the potential for the most advanced depth of feeling and meaning." Including work drawn from a pivotal period in Hoyland’s career—1964 to 1982—Power Stations shows an artist equally comfortable with geometric and gestural abstraction, combining elements of both in vividly hued, large-scale paintings. The first extensive survey of Hoyland’s work since the artist’s death, this volume reaffirms Hoyland’s status as a major innovative force within the pantheon of international abstraction.

Cradle of Magic brings together two giants of 20th-century British painting: John Bellany and Alan Davie Alan Davie (1920–2014) was one of the first British artists to explore abstract expressionist forms and techniques, and his gestural paintings, rich with symbolism, demonstrate an interest in tribal art, as well as Zen Buddhism. John Bellany (1942–2013), over a long and prolific career, came to be considered one of Britain's foremost figurative painters. His intimate works, often filled with ghoulish, hybridized creatures, balance the uncanny, joyful and violent in powerful and original ways.The book comes with two different covers—one by each artist—and includes an essay by the acclaimed art historian Mel Gooding exploring the connections between the artists and the themes underpinning their paintings. Also included are two newly transcribed interviews with the artists recorded as part of the Artists' Lives oral history project at the British Library.

Paintings made from digitally distorted photographs, by Stone Roses guitarist John SquireBritish painter John Squire (born 1962) is most famous for being the lead guitarist in the Stone Roses, but he is also a prolific visual artist—his most recognisable piece being the Jackson Pollock–inspired artwork used on the Stone Roses’ 1989 eponymous debut album.This book, published to accompany an exhibition of Squire’s work at London’s Newport Street Gallery titled Disinformation, presents a new series. These large-scale oil paintings are based on photographs taken by the artist or found online. Squire alters the images using editing software, which he overloads to prompt visual glitches. These partially distorted, fragmented scenes are then enlarged from their original small-screen format and rendered in the traditional medium of oil and canvas. The figures blend and collide with their surroundings, their features confused and sometimes entirely lost.Also included is an interview with the artist by Michael Joo.

Early Hirst: iconic paintings and sculptures from the first two decades of the YBA protagonist's careerThis volume collects all works featured in End of a Century, a major exhibition of some of Damien Hirst’s (born 1965) early pieces from the 1980s and 1990s held at Newport Street Gallery, London. A selection of sketches and preparatory drawings accompany full-color reproductions of the exhibited paintings and sculptures, offering insight into the development of some of the artist’s most iconic series. Also included is an original text—part essay, part short story—by writer Harry Thorne, and a number of quotes by Hirst himself on the subjects that have preoccupied him throughout his career: science, religion, life and death.

Key Hirst works situated in the exquisite landscape and architecture of St MoritzHeld in 2021 in St Moritz, Mental Escapology was Damien Hirst’s (born 1965) first major exhibition in Switzerland. It featured over 40 works from some of his best-known series—including the Spot Paintings, Natural History and Mental Escapology—presented across multiple outdoor and indoor sites. Highlights included the 12-foot bronze sculpture The Monk (2014) positioned in the center of the frozen Lake St Moritz. Elsewhere, another piece from Hirst’s Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable series, Two Figures with a Drum (2013), was installed on the southwestern edge of the lake, while his 21-foot sculpture Temple (2008) towered over the lake’s north bank. Some of Hirst’s most recognizable works were displayed in an 18th-century building and in the Protestant church in the town’s center. Designed by the exhibition’s curator, Jason Beard, this publication provides an overview of the show, presenting the works alongside a selection of quotes by Hirst.