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Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot, Paintings 1986-2011. Gagosian Gallery, from 12 January 2012, Athens
Author: Anothertravelguide.com
12 January sees the opening of a global exhibition by the super star of contemporary art Damien Hirst, running simultaneously at eleven different venues: namely, at every European, Asian and American subsidiary of the Gagosian Gallery. For the first time in the history of the gallery, all of its exhibition spaces worldwide are presenting the work of the same artist. Hirst, described by his fellow artists as an excellent businessman and a 'race driver' (as opposed to themselves as humble pedal-pushers), teams up with Larry Gagosian, an equally influential phenomenon of contemporary art - both, apparently, feeling the need for some extra attention from the exhibition-going public. From early 2012, there will be no shortage of that: apparently, companies renting vacation apartments in Rome have noted an increased demand for accommodation for the time of the show's opening as early as in the autumn.
The Gagosian Gallery is marketing the Hirst retrospective as a unique opportunity to view a genuine icon of contemporary art: the legendary 'spot paintings' which the boy with the golden touch (and he looks exactly like a boy in the photographs dating from the 1990s - all lace boots, quiff and spectacles) started to paint in 1986, almost a decade before the Turner Prize (1995) which could be considered his first great success on the road to the status of the ultimate winner and millionaire. The paintings show spots in every possible way, from large-scale canvases in which the colour of the spots is never repeated, to works featuring tiny spots of paint measuring a millimetre in diameter. The works for the shows were borrowed from private collections, state museums and, of course, Hirst's own holdings (the Gagosian Gallery is, after all, a commercial institution).
The exhibition is accompanied by a voluminous catalogue revealing everything you ever wanted to know about Hirst's spot paintings. The global show could be considered a sort of overture to Damien Hirst's retrospective which will go on view on 4 April 2012 at London's Tate Modern.
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Keywords: exhibition, Athens, Damien Hirst
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