KANKURO UESHIMA COLLECTION

DAMIEN HIRST Justice, from The Virtues (H9-1): Year: 2021
Medium: Laminated giclée print in colors, flush-mounted to aluminum with metal strainer on the reverse (as issued) contained in the original foam-lined cardboard packing box
Dimensions: 120 x 95.9 cm (47 1/4 x 37 3/4 in.)
Edition: No.546 of 1005
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

In the late ’80s, Hirst was regarded as the most radical and strategic artist among the YBAs (Young British Artists), a generation of artists who were taken up very often as provocateurs to the art market. He managed to maintain this attitude to this day and still attracts attention all over the world whenever he releases a shocking artwork. This work was displayed at his solo exhibition at The National Art Center, Tokyo and is a print based on a “handwritten” canvas that is very rare for Hirst. Although it is seen as a painting of cherry blossom, it is Hirst’s honest approach to confront painting his own handwork, which is something he has been avoided in the past. As the artist describes his nostalgia for his beloved grandmother as the psychological starting point, it can be said that this artwork has a rather emotional touch for Hirst. The trace of paint applied in scattered dots like droplets (it was practically drawn by throwing paint from afar), stands out vividly emerging on the blue sky. The dark branches and the rough deformation of this painting are suggestive of Van Gogh’s Flowering Plum Orchard (after Hiroshige).

DAMIEN HIRST Untitled (Butterfly Spin Painting): Year: 2009
Medium: Acrylic and metallic paint on paper
Dimensions: 51.5 x 68.5 cm (20 3/8 x 27 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby's, 2022

This work was created to commemorate Hirst's retrospective exhibition "Requiem" held at the Pinchuk Art Center (Kyiv) in Ukraine in 2008. In this exhibition, Hirst created and exhibited a number of new “Spin Painting" works along with some of his early major works such as “A Thousand Years” and Formalin preserved shark titled “Death Explained”. This work was created by attaching canvas onto a hypnotic disc (multiple holes are visible in a fixed mode), dripping the paint upon the machine, then radically suffused with centrifugal explosions of vivid color. Hirst characteristically diverts specific motifs into his works. In one series insect specimens are embedded directly into the painting, and another series numerous butterfly wings are arranged into psychedelic patterns to resemble a rainbow or a kaleidoscope. It is, however, controversial that vivid life and death are shown in a dewy, grotesque manner yet concealed with vibrant colors at the same time. One of Hirst’s other allegories that evoke life and death is his recurring use of butterflies, as well as skulls and pills, thus can also be seen as vanitas.

DAMIEN HIRST Untitled (Skull Spin Painting): Year: 2009
Medium: Acrylic and metallic paint on paper
Dimensions: 71 x 52 cm (28 x 20 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby's, 2022

This work was created to commemorate Hirst’s retrospective exhibition “Requiem”, held at Ukraine’s PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv) in 2008. Hirst produced multiple new “spin paintings” for display at this exhibition, alongside works such as his early masterpiece “A Thousand Years,” and “Death Explained,” in which a shark is soaked in formalin. To create these works, the artist attaches paper to a spinning machine (several pinholes can be seen, from when the paper was affixed to the machine), pours paint onto the spinning paper, and uses centrifugal force to spread the paint in a radial pattern. Hirst, an artist who is never out of the public eye for long, foreshadowed this work with “For the Love of God” (2007), an ethically challenging piece that involved implanting real human teeth into a skull made of platinum and diamonds (molded from a human skeleton). This sensational work was priced at about 12 billion Japanese yen at the time. The monetary value is entwined with the skull, symbolizing death, and diamonds, which represent desire and wealth—essentially, a vivid symbol of intense life. The inappropriate smile expresses the ideas of death and wealth associated with the skull, something only made possible by the fact that the work is by Hirst.