Category: Artist
Nationality: British
Last Year: 1
Following a storm of criticism and consternation after his straight-to-market auction at Sotheby’s, Hirst seems to have decided to step back and take stock, mothballing much of his usual activity – ending production on some lines, closing studios and reducing staff. His quietude means he hasn’t been setting the media agenda: Saatchi’s ‘off-form’ comments, Hirst’s ill-judged copyright feud with a young graffiti artist and protests over his butterfly-decorated bicycle for Lance Armstrong were PR low-points. But a massive retrospective at the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev shows that artworld still loves the old-bad-boy of Britart, and his current show of macabre blue paintings at London’s Wallace Collection may signal the emergence of a calmer, more contemplative Hirst.