Gagosian is featuring Damien Hirst’s Veil of Hidden Meaning (2017-2018) painting for 48 hours only for its latest Artist Spotlight series. Emblematic of the artist’s Veil series, the work is characterized by shifting, pulsing layers of color and abstract shapes. Bright dots of heavy impasto cover the entire surface of the canvas, while larger patches of paint unify the 120 inch by 96 inch painting. Hirst explains that together, the group of paintings portray “something between you and something else…they’re celebrations of avoiding something.”
Hirst has cited Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism as influences for his Veil series, referencing Georges Seurat’s Pointillist technique, Pierre Bonnard’s use of color and Willem de Kooning’s mastery of large-scale canvases. He imagined the paintings as a whole — there are 94 paintings in the entire set — before working on the first one.
“The first thing I did was paint all the canvases different colors,” he explained. “I have a selection of colors I love and use over and over again. They are like sweet shop colors and the colors of fruit and flowers; they are my go-to colors… I used a longer-than-normal brush—not Matisse-style, but a bristle brush about two or two and a half feet long—just long enough to get a bit more distance from the painting surface and not be awkward.”
Take a closer look at Veil of Hidden Meaning in the images above and inquire about the work on Gagosian’s website. The painting is currently selling for $1.5 million USD.
Credits: Posted by Hypebeast
By Gabrielle Leung