Damien Hirst

Gagosian Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the current owner in 2007

The colours are fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration. The work is executed on its original canvas and is not relined. Under Ultra Violet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. This work is in excellent condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In 1993, Damien Hirst and Angus Fairhurst hosted a spin art stall at a street fair dressed as clowns by performance artist Leigh Bowery. The following year in Berlin, Hirst had a spin machine made and began his iconic series of spin paintings. Characterized by their bright colours and dynamism, the series is a true breath of optimism and energy. This particularly hypnotic disc of canvas, titled Beautiful bum runs painting, dating from 2007, is saturated with explosions of paint and intensity. In Damien Hirst’s own words, the paintings from the series are “childish… in the positive sense of the word” (Damien Hirst and Gordon Burn, ‘On the Way to Work’ (Faber and Faber, 2001), 221). The nuances of warm tones of canary yellow and orange, mixed with cool eruptions of greens and blues vibrate from the canvas vehemently. To create such a vivid artwork, Hirst poured the household gloss onto a rotating canvas. The choice of colour was therefore decisive in the making of the painting, while the rest of the creative process was left up to chance and the spin painting machine. The centrifugal surges of colour and the mechanical technique are an honest homage to childhood and innocence. As Damien Hirst stated: “I believe painting and all art should be ultimately uplifting for a viewer. I love colour. I feel it inside me. It gives me a buzz.' (Damien Hirst, quoted in I want to spend the rest of my life everywhere, with everyone, one to one, always, forever, now, London 1997, p. 246).” Beautiful bum runs painting is an inspiring piece which efficiently frees the public from any somber thoughts while procuring an immediate sense of blissfulness.