Today is the day; Gagosian Gallery walls burst with Hirst in New York, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens, and Hong Kong.
The Complete Spot Paintings exhibit, opening at all Gagosian Galleries today, offers Hirst-o-files and jet setters alike The Complete Spot Painting Challenge where dedicated dot hunters can visit each of the eleven galleries and receive a signed spot print by British artist Damien Hirst.
Spot seekers may supplement the hunt by referencing Gagosian Gallery’s free iPad app which provides an overview of exhibitions and projects at Gagosian Gallery and includes a Damien Hirst “art board” for exploring over ninety spot paintings.
A body of work spanning 25 years, Mr. Hirst’s spot paintings are controversial for a variety of reasons, one of which is, according to the New York Times, “Of the hundreds of spot canvases, Mr. Hirst painted only five himself”.
Will this global exhibit be as “fantastically boring” as Richard Dorment, art critic for The Daily Telegraph in London, called the spot paintings? When asked about the premise of the Gagosian shows, he replied: “The accumulation of scores of them in one place like the Tate’s Turbine Hall could make a visual impact, but I can’t see the point of filling all of Gagosian’s galleries around the world. What purpose will it serve?”
After today, the world (aka the critics) will decide. Meanwhile, let’s go and see for ourselves!
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- Damien Hirst’s spots: a rough guide to the pricing (telegraph.co.uk)
- Art World Star Doesn’t Change His Spots – New York Times (nytimes.com)
- Will Damien Hirst Dot the Art Market to Death? (bigthink.com)
- Spots (fashioncopious.typepad.com)
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