Artist Awareness Damien Hirst

"For the Love of God", Sculpture, 2007

David Hirst is a contemporary English artist, whose artworks tend to dive into the topics of life, death, and some intentionally provocative imagery to enforce such themes. David has won the Turner Prize in 1995, one of the most prestigious art awards that can be given within the United Kingdom.

"The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living", Sculpture, 1991

The piece above is one of his examples of shocking imagery to convey the previously mentioned themes. In the piece Damien preserves a shark within formaldehyde, which challenges the idea of how fragile life is, as well as impermanence. This piece was particularly off putting for me as the literally preservation of a shark in a tank gives a eerie feeling, which could be interpreted as on purpose to enforce the themes even more.

"Mother and Child, Divided", Sculpture, 1993

This piece above gives a similar eerie feeling as the previous piece. In this piece it also explores the topic of separation, and how it is a part of life. While not shown in the image above, the calf inside the tank is actually cut in half, having the insides exposed to the viewer. I'm given an almost gross or disgusted feeling when seeing that, but I believe that was all with the idea of conveying that what you see is what is seen in life.