Damien Hirst: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Damien Hirst built a career out of making mortality legible: a shark in formaldehyde, a diamond skull, pills on shelves. The map runs from Francis Bacon's screaming popes and Duchamp's readymade logic through the Dutch vanitas tradition and his Goldsmiths tutor's conceptual conjuring, into the Freeze-generation London that made him famous. It ends with the artists who inherited his fusion of spectacle, market and memento mori.

The Kynda mix for Damien Hirst

• Key Influence · Triptych – August 1972 by Francis Bacon (1972). Hirst has repeatedly named Bacon as his central artistic reference, and the debt is structural: the vitrine-like space frames, the isolated figure boxed in a cage of geometry, the insistence that paint confront the body as meat. Hirst's glass tanks restage Bacon's spatial cages in three dimensions, swapping oil for formaldehyde. His later painting series openly court comparison, and he has spoken of Bacon's work as the standard he measures himself against.
• Influencia Obscura · An Oak Tree by Michael Craig-Martin (1973). A glass of water on a shelf, declared to be an oak tree. Craig-Martin was Hirst's tutor on the Goldsmiths BA that produced the Young British Artists, and this piece is the conceptual seed of Hirst's practice: belief and declaration transform the object, and the shelf itself becomes sculpture. Hirst's medicine cabinets, with their ordered rows of packaging on glass shelves, are unmistakably downstream of Craig-Martin's cool object arrangements.
• Local Roots · Au Naturel by Sarah Lucas (1994). Lucas showed in Freeze, the 1988 Docklands warehouse exhibition Hirst organised while still a Goldsmiths student, the event generally treated as the YBA starting pistol. Her mattress, melons, bucket and cucumber share Hirst's method of blunt everyday material carrying a grim joke about bodies and sex. The same east London warehouses, the same Charles Saatchi patronage and the same 1997 Sensation exhibition carried both careers.
• Beyond the Medium · Jaws by Steven Spielberg (1975). Hirst wanted something big enough to eat you, and the cultural image of the shark as pure terror comes from Spielberg before it comes from biology. The tiger shark he commissioned from an Australian fisherman arrives pre-loaded with cinema's monster, which is exactly why a dead fish in a tank reads as dread rather than taxidermy. The popcorn-blockbuster scale of the fear is the point: Hirst deals in mass-audience emotions, not connoisseurship.
• Peer · Hell by Jake and Dinos Chapman (1999). The Chapmans were Hirst's closest contemporaries in the Saatchi stable and shared the 1997 Sensation exhibition with him. Their nine glass cases of tiny mutilated figures in swastika formation apply Hirst's vitrine logic to atrocity, trading his single monumental shock for obsessive accumulation. Both practices rest on fabrication by hand or team, grotesque subject matter delivered with deadpan presentation, and a taste for provoking the British press.
• From the Canon · The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst (1991). The tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde, commissioned with Charles Saatchi's funding, is the work that fixed Hirst's method permanently: a real dead thing, a clinical container, and a title that does the philosophical work the object cannot. It defined the YBA decade and generated a second life as a conservation problem, the decaying specimen eventually replaced — an accidental demonstration of the very mortality the piece advertises.
• Key Collaborator · Country House by Blur (1995). Hirst directed the video for Blur's Britpop chart-topper, a Benny Hill-styled romp that placed him at the centre of the mid-1990s cross-pollination between British art and pop music. The collaboration with Albarn ran deeper than one commission: both belonged to the same London social circuit around the Groucho Club and Hirst's Notting Hill restaurant Pharmacy, and the video exported his comic, sensation-seeking sensibility to a mass audience.
• Legacy · Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan (2019). A banana duct-taped to a wall, sold in editions at Art Basel Miami, is unthinkable without the precedent Hirst set: the artwork as news event, the price as content, the certificate as the real object. Cattelan shares Hirst's taxidermy impulse and gallows humour, and both treat the art fair as a stage rather than a shop. The media frenzy around Comedian followed the template the shark and the diamond skull established.

What influenced Damien Hirst

• Francis Bacon (1909). Describes Hirst’s acknowledged artistic debt to Bacon. (also via A Thousand Years, Triptych – August 1972) “But then, that was me sort of trying to do a three-dimensional Bacon painting, because obviously I was thinking of Bacon very early on.” (Tate)
• Joe Machine. Reports Machine’s plagiarism accusation concerning Hirst’s cherry-blossom paintings. “His [work] is so very similar to mine. But I was doing my cherry blossom paintings years before his.” (The Observer)
• Lori Precious. Reports an allegation that Hirst appropriated Precious’s butterfly-wing concept. “Lori Precious, an American, says she first arranged butterfly wings into patterns to suggest stained-glass windows in 1994, years before Hirst.” (The Guardian)
• An Oak Tree by Michael Craig-Martin (1973). An Oak Tree (Michael Craig-Martin) — ghost for Damien Hirst “In 2007, Hirst was quoted as saying of An Oak Tree by Goldsmiths' senior tutor, Michael Craig-Martin : "That piece is, I think, the greatest piece of conceptual sculpture. I still can't get it out of my head."” (Wikipedia)
• Salvador Dalí (1904). The article names Damien Hirst among artists influenced by Dalí. (also via The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living) “His life and work were an important influence on other Surrealists, pop art , popular culture, and contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst .” (Wikipedia)
• Francis Davison. Reports Hirst’s account of Davison’s influence. “Davison created abstract collages from torn and cut coloured paper which, Hirst said, "blew me away", and which inspired his own work for the next two years.” (Wikipedia)
• Eddie Saunders. Reports the Stuckists’ speculative claim about the source of Hirst’s shark work. (via The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living) “The Stuckists suggested that Hirst may have got the idea for his work from Saunders' shop display.” (Wikipedia)
• The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (1973). The Denial of Death (Ernest Becker) — culture for Damien Hirst (openlibrary.org)
• Fountain by Marcel Duchamp (1917). Fountain (Marcel Duchamp) — titan for Damien Hirst (wikidata.org)
• Rabbit by Jeff Koons (1986). Rabbit (Jeff Koons) — titan for Damien Hirst “Now known as the 'murderme collection', this significant accumulation of works spans several generations of international artists, from well-known figures such as Francis Bacon, Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Richard Prince, Banksy and Andy Wa…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Triptych – August 1972 by Francis Bacon (1972). Triptych – August 1972 (Francis Bacon) — titan for Damien Hirst “In June that year, he exhibited alongside the work of Francis Bacon (Triptychs) at the Gagosian Gallery, Britannia Street, London, an exhibition that included the vitrine, A Thousand Years (1990), and four triptychs: paintings, medicine …” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Jaws by Steven Spielberg. Jaws (Steven Spielberg) — culture for Damien Hirst (themoviedb.org)
• Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell) — culture for Damien Hirst (openlibrary.org)
• Yayoi Kusama (1929). The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (Damien Hirst) — legacy for Yayoi Kusama (via The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living) (wikidata.org)
• Vanitas Still Life by Harmen Steenwijck (1640). Vanitas Still Life (Harmen Steenwijck) — ghost for Damien Hirst

Peers and kindred spirits

• Marco Pierre White. States that Hirst and White were partners in Quo Vadis. “When irascible culinary genius Marco Pierre White joined forces with the bad boy of avant-garde art, Damien Hirst , it was destined to be a curious and volatile double act.” (The Guardian)
• Country House by Blur (1995). Country House (Blur) — collaborator for Damien Hirst “He directed the video for the song " Country House " for the band Blur .” (Wikipedia)
• Other Criteria. Credits Hirst with founding the publisher. “Other Criteria Books is an arts-based publishing company co-founded by Damien Hirst.” (D.A.P. / ARTBOOK)
• Rachel by Rachel Howard. Howard recalls working as Hirst’s spot painter. “We were mates and he needed someone to paint spots, and I was waitressing and I didn’t want a proper job – so I ended up working for him to earn enough money to make my own work” (The Guardian)
• Carl Freedman. Names Freedman as a co-curator of the warehouse shows. “he has always needed assistants—for instance, Carl Freedman helped with the first vitrines” (Wikipedia)
• Band Aid 20. States that Hirst designed an image for Band Aid 20’s single, although the design was rejected. “He welcomed it and immediately said 'yes'. Obviously, he's doing it all for nothing and I would imagine the piece of artwork will become an immense fundraiser for the Band Aid Trust.” (BBC News)
• Charles Saatchi. States that Saatchi funded Hirst’s artwork. (also via My Name Is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic) “In 1991, Charles Saatchi had offered to fund whatever artwork Hirst wanted to make, and the result was showcased in 1992 in the first Young British Artists exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in North London.” (Wikipedia)
• I'm with You by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Credits Hirst with designing the album cover. “In 2011, Damien Hirst designed the cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers album I'm with You .” (Wikipedia)
• Tamara Chodzko. Credits Chodzko with organizing Hirst’s first solo exhibition. “His first solo exhibition, organised by Tamara Chodzko (now Dial), In and Out of Love , was held in an unused shop on Woodstock Street in central London in 1991” (Wikipedia)
• Young British Artists. Identifies Hirst as a Young British Artist. “He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s.” (Wikipedia)
• Billee Sellman. Names Sellman as a co-curator of the warehouse shows. “Hirst, along with his friend Carl Freedman and Billee Sellman, curated two enterprising "warehouse" shows in 1990, Modern Medicine and Gambler” (Wikipedia)
• My Bed by Tracey Emin (1998). My Bed (Tracey Emin) — geography for Damien Hirst “Now known as the 'murderme collection', this significant accumulation of works spans several generations of international artists, from well-known figures such as Francis Bacon, Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Richard Prince, Banksy and Andy Wa…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Strummerville. Credits Hirst with founding Strummerville. “He subsequently devoted a lot of time to founding a charity, Strummerville , to help young musicians.” (Wikipedia)
• Fat Les. States that Hirst formed Fat Les. “With Alex James of the band Blur and actor Keith Allen , he formed the band Fat Les” (Wikipedia)
• I'm with You (Red Hot Chili Peppers) by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band credits Hirst with creating its album cover. “Check out our new album cover – officially revealed! Damien Hirst did it for us and we’re happy to get this out to ya!” (NME)
• Newport Street Gallery. Connects Hirst’s plan to open a gallery with the opening of Newport Street Gallery. “In March 2012, he outlined his plans to open a gallery in Vauxhall, London specifically designed to exhibit his personal collection, which includes five pieces by Francis Bacon . The Newport Street Gallery opened in October 2015.” (Wikipedia)
• Malcolm McLaren. Credits McLaren with acting in and composing music for Hirst’s advert. “a businessman (played by Malcolm McLaren , who also composed the music for the advert) wearing earrings” (Wikipedia)
• Au Naturel by Sarah Lucas (1994). Au Naturel (Sarah Lucas) — geography for Damien Hirst “=== Work === Lucas was included in the 1988 group exhibition Freeze along with contemporary artists including Angus Fairhurst, Damien Hirst, and Gary Hume.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Self by Marc Quinn (1991). Self (Marc Quinn) — peer for Damien Hirst “In 1992, the loosely affiliated group was called the 'Young British Artists' by writer Michael Corris in Artforum, and included Cornelia Parker, Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, and Tracey Emin.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• My Name Is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic by Charles Saatchi (2009). My Name Is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic (Charles Saatchi) — collaborator for Damien Hirst “During the 1990s his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, but increasing frictions came to a head in 2003 and the relationship ended.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Keep It Spotless by Banksy (2007). Keep It Spotless (Banksy) — collaborator for Damien Hirst “Now known as the 'murderme collection', this significant accumulation of works spans several generations of international artists, from well-known figures such as Francis Bacon, Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Richard Prince, Banksy and Andy Wa…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Pop. Pop (Gavin Turk) — peer for Damien Hirst “In 2017 Turk placed an unofficial blue plaque commemorating Damien Hirst at Newport Street Gallery in London.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Hell by Jake and Dinos Chapman (1999). Hell (Jake and Dinos Chapman) — peer for Damien Hirst
• House by Rachel Whiteread (1993). House (Rachel Whiteread) — geography for Damien Hirst

Who Damien Hirst influenced

• Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple (2021). Everydays: The First 5000 Days (Beeple) — legacy for Damien Hirst (wikidata.org)
• Comedian. Comedian (Maurizio Cattelan) — legacy for Damien Hirst (wikidata.org)