Damien Hirst / Permanent event at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

 

Damien Hirst, The hat makes the man, 2004-2007. Courtesy of YSP Gallery

Damien Hirst

Permanent event at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, United Kingdom

16 SEPTEMBER 2024

MVisit the Country Park to see three major sculptures by Damien Hirst.

Charity (2002-2003), The hat makes the man(2004-2007) and The virgin mother (2005-2006) joined YSP as part of Yorkshire Sculpture International (YSI). YSI is a partnership between YSP, The Hepworth Wakefield, the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, and Leeds Art Gallery. YSI 2019 was a festival of sculpture that took place across Leeds and Wakefield from 22 June until 29 September 2019. The virgin mother is 10 metres tall and is a powerful presence in the landscape. It is partly inspired by the historic sculpture Little dancer of fourteen years (c.1881), by Edgar Degas. Charity is based on the Scope charity collection boxes that used to be common on British streets. On the walking route to The Weston, it features a young girl wearing a calliper and cradling a teddy bear. It has a donate box asking people to 'please give generously'. Hirst's interpretation questions outdated ways of depicting disability and seeking charity.

The controversial art works that sent the world into a spin

Amalia Ulman

The controversial art works that sent the world into a spin

From Duchamp’s urinal ‘Fountain’ to Bowie trolling the art world with his own publishing house, and Insta-art that isn’t all that it seems

The art world means serious business. Paintings and sculptures sell for hundreds of millions of pounds at the drop of a gavel, works are stolen and sold on the black market, and the authenticity of others have divided elitist circles worldwide. Naturally, all this lays the groundwork for some good old fashioned trolling. From surrealists to web-savvy pranksters, art history is plagued with examples of tricks and jokes that at best, have provoked laughter, or worse, stirred international outrage. And yet, beyond their immediate effects on people’s nerves, the most controversial works of art often voice essential critiques to the art world and society.