Damien Hirst
The Souls III [Imperial Purple/Silver Gloss] and [Frost Blue/Oriental Gold/Chili Red], 2010
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Two/Three colour foil block print
Sheet: 72 x 51 cm each
Framed: 80 x 59 cm each
Framed: 80 x 59 cm each
Each from an edition of 15
If the central themes of Hirst's oeuvre can be summarised as life, death, love, morality, faith and the ways in which they all intersect, no image encapsulates them all quite so eloquently as that of the butterfly.
A potent symbol of the resurrection in Christian iconography, its life cycle was the subject of Hirst's seminal installation 'In and Out of Love' (1991), in which visitors were invited to observe the birth, life and death of these insects within the timespan of a single exhibition. They speak of redemption and joy, but their beauty can be fragile and deceptive; even in death they preserve the illusion of life. Hirst has described himself as possessing a "Victorian obsession with nature", and refers to the butterfly as a "universal trigger".
'The Souls' is an expansive series that depicts four species of butterfly, containing 80 colour variations, each in a small edition of 15. They were produced using a metallic foil block printing technique that mimics the shimmering effect of the way live specimens reflect the light. Hirst then subverts our expectations by employing an entirely artificial colour palette. Sacred and profane, joyous and macabre, these prints capture everything that has come to define Hirst's approach to the big questions of life.
A potent symbol of the resurrection in Christian iconography, its life cycle was the subject of Hirst's seminal installation 'In and Out of Love' (1991), in which visitors were invited to observe the birth, life and death of these insects within the timespan of a single exhibition. They speak of redemption and joy, but their beauty can be fragile and deceptive; even in death they preserve the illusion of life. Hirst has described himself as possessing a "Victorian obsession with nature", and refers to the butterfly as a "universal trigger".
'The Souls' is an expansive series that depicts four species of butterfly, containing 80 colour variations, each in a small edition of 15. They were produced using a metallic foil block printing technique that mimics the shimmering effect of the way live specimens reflect the light. Hirst then subverts our expectations by employing an entirely artificial colour palette. Sacred and profane, joyous and macabre, these prints capture everything that has come to define Hirst's approach to the big questions of life.
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November 1, 2022
