AA - VV. - Damien Hirst. Vivir para Siempre (Por Un Momento)
AA - VV. - Damien Hirst. Vivir para Siempre (Por Un Momento)
AA - VV. - Damien Hirst. Vivir para Siempre (Por Un Momento)
MUSEO JUMEX
23.MAR.–25.AGO.2024 #31
EXPOSICIÓN / EXHIBITION
Damien Hirst
DAMIEN HIRST: VIVIR PARA SIEMPRE
(POR UN MOMENTO)
To Live Forever
CUADERNILLO / BOOKLET
Texto / Text
Adriana Kuri Alamillo
(For a While)
Traducción / Translation
Adriana Kuri Alamillo
Arely Ramírez
© 2024
PORTADA / COVER
Damien Hirst, Self Portrait
(Full Body), 2008
[Autorretrato (cuerpo completo)]
Caja de luz y radiografías
[Light box and x-rays]
#31
Colección privada. © Damien Hirst
and Science Ltd. Todos los derechos
reservados, DACS/SOMAAP/México/2024 MUSEO JUMEX
Foto [Photo]: Prudence Cuming
Associates Ltd. 23.MAR.–25.AGO.2024
Vivir para siempre (por un momento)
#31
4 5
VIVIR PARA SIEMPRE (POR UN MOMENTO)
GALERÍA 3
Las obras del período inicial de la carrera del artista revelan con frecuencia
un interés por el uso de múltiples formas y sistemas de disposición, utilizando
materiales domésticos cotidianos, como sartenes de colores brillantes, salchi-
chas en conserva o cajas de cartón de colores. De estos comienzos surgió una
11 Sausages, 1993 de sus series más prolíficas e icónicas, las Spot Paintings [Pinturas de puntos],
Página anterior: detalle de Devil’s Gate, 2012 que juegan con los aparentemente sencillos detalles del color, la geometría y
el dibujo. Su paleta y composición, así como su similitud con las píldoras, tam-
bién enlazan con los coloridos envases de medicamentos que utilizó en otra
de sus primeras series, Medicine Cabinets [Gabinetes médicos]. Los primeros
ejemplos de estas pinturas formaron parte de una ambiciosa exposición en
tres partes, Freeze (1988), que el artista organizó para mostrar sus obras y las
de sus compañeros cuando aún eran estudiantes, en la que también expuso
Boxes [Cajas], incluida en esta exposición. Después de pintar sólo unas pocas,
Hirst decidió delegar en sus ayudantes la ejecución de todas las Spot Paintings
restantes. En la actualidad hay más de mil subcategorías de esta serie, todas
ellas con nombres de medicamentos.
GALERÍA 2
colocadas en vitrinas de cristal de construcción industrial, que recuerdan tanto Junto con la conservación médica o científica, la religión es un punto de re-
14 a los museos científicos como a los escaparates de las tiendas. Una serie de ferencia continuo en la práctica de Hirst que articula los medios por los que 15
vitrinas titulada The Acquired Inability to Escape [La incapacidad adquirida nos enfrentamos a la inevitabilidad de la muerte. Estos temas se reúnen en sus
de escapar], de la que hay una versión en la galería 3, introduce el motivo del pinturas de mariposas. Compuestas por muchas especies de mariposas, sus
cigarrillo en un entorno estéril. En Crematorium [Crematorio] (1996) y Burial colores y formas intensamente vivos y exquisitos contrastan con la realidad de
Ground [Cementerio] (2008), la cantidad de cigarrillos se multiplica tanto que contemplar especímenes de criaturas antaño vivas, pero su exposición, de for-
la alusión a la muerte, y la similitud con las cenizas de los restos humanos inci- ma más amplia, imita directamente a las que se encuentran en los gabinetes
nerados, queda más patente. Cuando Hirst empezó a introducir los cigarrillos de historia natural de los museos de todo el mundo. Las mariposas aparecie-
en su obra, eran objeto de una intensa atención publicitaria, mucho después de ron por primera vez en la obra de Hirst en una instalación en la que emergían
que se conociera ampliamente la naturaleza letal de la adicción a la nicotina. de las pupas y volaban entre los visitantes, o se incrustaban en lienzos mono-
cromos, donde parecían haberse posado en la pintura húmeda de sus super-
Las obras de Natural History de Hirst que se ven aquí aluden a diversos sistemas ficies. A medida que la serie ha ido evolucionando, las representaciones han
de creencias, siendo los tiburones de Theology, Philosophy, Medicine, Justice incluido formas que se asemejan a las vidrieras de las catedrales o a patrones
[Teología, Filosofía, Medicina, Justicia] (2008) los más elocuentes. Otras aluden abstractos parecidos a mandalas.
sustancialmente a la imaginería religiosa. Mother and Child (Divided) [Madre
e hijo (divididos)] (1993), la primera vitrina destacada de Hirst con animales
disecados, se expuso en la Bienal de Venecia de 1993, y más tarde se mostró GALERÍA 1
en la exhibición que le valió el Premio Turner en la Tate Gallery. El motivo de la
madre y el hijo es una de las imágenes más representadas en el arte cristiano, For the Love of God [Por el amor de Dios] (2007) ocupa el centro de la galería 1.
pero aquí la unidad familiar tradicional se rompe de forma bastante visceral. Es una de las obras más conocidas de Hirst. Esta obra combina su interés por
The Incomplete Truth [La verdad incompleta] (2006) emula una representación las imágenes de la muerte con ideas sobre creencias y valores. For the Love of
religiosa mediante una paloma en vuelo que, en el arte y la historia cristiana, God, un cráneo humano fundido en platino con incrustaciones de diamantes y
ha llegado a simbolizar al Espíritu Santo. El título cuestiona la asunción de la dientes humanos, está considerada una de las esculturas más costosas jamás
creencia total. producidas. Rinde homenaje a los cráneos aztecas adornados con turquesas
y otros materiales preciosos y a una gran gama de otros objetos sagrados,
percibidos como de valor inconmensurable. El costo de esta obra formó parte
de su concepto desde el principio, en un momento de precios récord durante
un período especialmente floreciente del mercado del arte. Se relaciona con
otros proyectos de Hirst que cuestionan el sistema de valores asociado al arte,
cuando colocó cuerpos de obra directamente desde el estudio en subastas,
eludiendo el procedimiento establecido de las galerías para vender arte.
Sophie J. Williamson
James Baldwin escribió una vez que “[el lenguaje], indiscutiblemente, revela
al hablante”,2 refiriéndose al papel del lenguaje como revelador de una iden-
tidad privada y, al mismo tiempo, con la posibilidad de conectar o divorciar
a una persona del mundo más amplio, público o comunitario que le rodea.3
Esta forma de entender el funcionamiento del lenguaje está arraigada en un
tipo específico de práctica artística cuyos orígenes en la era contemporánea
se remontan a Marcel Duchamp y su concepción de “el título de una pintura
[como] otro color de la paleta del artista”.4 El título de una obra de arte es
uno de los muchos dispositivos de creación de significado del que dispone un 21
artista. Aunque para algunos el título sólo es esencial en términos de la identi-
ficación de la obra una vez que sale del estudio del artista, para otros —como
Damien Hirst— es una parte esencial de la obra, un componente que añade
contexto o capas de significado que están inextricablemente vinculadas a la
visión creativa del artista. Y así surge la pregunta: ¿cuál es la relación de la
imagen o el objeto con la palabra o las palabras en las prácticas artísticas?
Gombrich consideraba, y la historia del arte concuerda, que fue Marcel Duchamp
quien posicionó al arte en el camino del desconcierto y la mediación entre la
palabra y la imagen que Hirst utiliza de forma tan interesante. Cuando en 1917
Duchamp propuso la obra Fountain [Fuente] al salón organizado por la Society
of Independent Artists, fue rechazado, y posteriormente mostró la obra como
imagen en la revista surrealista The Blind Man junto con un texto que defendía
que el valor de una obra de arte residía en la capacidad de los artistas de crear
un nuevo pensamiento para ese objeto. Este acto revolucionario condujo a una
ruptura epistemológica en la década de 1960, la cual reveló que el lenguaje es
un elemento constitutivo de una obra de arte que media la interacción entre
el espectador y la obra, cumpliendo una función interpretativa.
Los títulos de Hirst son directos y evocadores. Como en el caso de The History
of Pain [La historia del dolor] (1991), en la que se alude al dolor a través de cu-
chillos que amenazan con perforar una pelota de playa flotante, o el cuerpo,
en cualquier momento. O en The Acquired Inability to Escape (Purified) [La in-
capacidad adquirida de escapar (purificada)] (2008), donde una caja de cristal
sellada, con una serie de objetos dentro, es en sí un contenedor del que es im-
posible escapar. Y, si miramos más de cerca y analizamos sus componentes,
también podemos empezar a hacer asociaciones con una vida atrapada tras
un escritorio o atada a adicciones de cuyos efectos es casi imposible escapar.
Crematorium, 1996
8 Ibid. Siguiente página: Tears of Joy Wallpaper, 2011
ENGLISH
TO LIVE FOREVER (FOR A WHILE)
Damien Hirst is one of the leading contemporary artists of our time. Since
the late 1980s his work has formed a point of reference in debates about the
nature of contemporary art. He has frequently provoked public controver-
sy through the audacity of many of his works, as well as his attitude to the
systems through which art is made visible and circulates, raising pertinent
questions on issues of cultural value and taste. From early in his career, Hirst
was dubbed the figurehead of a generation of “Young British Artists” who
were a prominent presence in late 20th-century international art. Hirst’s bold
personality has become inextricably linked with his artistic output, forming an
essential part of its power.
For all the media attention that has surrounded the artist himself, the body of
Hirst’s art remains a formidable analysis of contemporary values and the human
condition. To Live Forever (For a While), presents a survey of some of Hirst’s
most significant works and series, in all their diversity, confronting us in ways
that prove at times provoking as well as captivating.
Visible throughout Hirst’s work is the essential issue that has preoccupied hu-
mankind, and is arguably the motivation for all art, namely our own mortality.
What is the act of creation but an attempt to live forever (for a while)? The in- 33
escapable truth that life inevitably ends in death is repeatedly made apparent
in Hirst’s work. It is represented or symbolized often to macabre effect, but
also evoked through its inverse, intense beauty and visual pleasure. A focus on
aesthetic beauty implies a celebration of life as well as its brevity. The duality
of horror and beauty stand for Hirst’s core interests: how we divide and recon-
cile, represent and obscure the fundamental questions of existence that often
illuminate contradictions in our societies and beliefs. Hirst’s work confronts us
with the realities we often go to great lengths to avoid.
GALLERY 3
Works from the early period of the artist’s career frequently reveal an interest
in a use of multiple forms and systems of arrangement, using everyday do-
mestic materials, such as brightly colored pans, preserved sausages, or col-
ored cardboard boxes. From these beginnings he went on to produce one of
his most prolific and iconic series, the Spot Paintings. The Spot Paintings play
with the seemingly simple pleasures of color, geometry and pattern. Their pal-
ette and composition, as well as their similarity to pills, also link to the colorful
medical packaging he used in another early series, the Medicine Cabinets.
Hirst attended Goldsmiths’ College when higher education was free, and
therefore open to students from a wide range of backgrounds, and at a time
when its art department encouraged students to abandon the traditional divi-
sion between art forms, and to articulate their ideas confidently. This was the
generation who went on to challenge conventions both in art and in access
to the art establishment. Apart from their confidence, there was little to unite
the varied types of work made by this now legendary generation of British
artists, many of whom attended Goldsmiths but also other London colleges.
As a loose group they became known for the shocking nature of their work,
much of which can be attributed to Hirst’s own brand of gothic humor. His
use of formaldehyde preservation was also inspired by his unofficial visits to
an anatomy museum in his hometown of Leeds as a teenager, to practice life
drawing. This early engagement with the physicality and preservation of dead
bodies was to inflect his later work. Lapdancer, 2006
34
As well as the works composed of animals preserved in formaldehyde-filled
tanks, which later became known as the Natural History series for their sim-
ilarity to specimens found in museums, Hirst’s early interest in the medical
environment also extended to medicines, the means by which we delay the
inevitability of death. In 1991 Hirst produced a work long in his mind, an entire
tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde with the title The Physical Impossibility
of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. The work and its title defined the
artist and his interests like a manifesto. The confrontation with the terrifying
animal, coupled with the fascination of being able to scrutinize the creature
in its arrested state, continued in further series of sharks in formaldehyde,
both whole and dissected. Two examples are Death Denied (2008) and Death
Explained (2007), whose titles suggest the same dichotomy at the center of the
artist’s concerns–our desire both to know and to obscure the truth. A single
white sheep was the subject of a work titled Away from the Flock (1994), which
during an exhibition was temporarily vandalized by a protester, who poured
black ink into the formaldehyde filled tank. This led Hirst to produce his own
black versions, one of which is titled Black Sheep (Twice) (2007). Hirst often
uses contrasting aspects in his work. Here the white sheep, characteristically a
symbol of Christ in religious imagery, and associated with purity and innocence,
is contrasted with the black sheep, which was traditionally superstitiously
feared and viewed as an outcast.
Detail of Memories Lost, Fragments of Paradise, 2003
and Spot Paintings share an allusion to how supposedly utilitarian medicines
are displayed commercially with colors and designs that are designed to be
appealing. Beyond his interest in the packaging design of the drugs, Hirst’s
interest was initially sparked by the almost religious belief and certainty that
medicines provoked.
GALLERY 2
While contemporary life places a great deal of belief in medicine and science,
in other times this was the sole preserve of religion. References to religion ap-
pear from early on in Hirst’s career, and the images and narratives associated
with Christianity are very familiar to the artist, who was raised as a Roman
36 Catholic. These references to religion can be viewed as being akin to medical 37
preservation as a cultural means of dealing with death.
Hirst has often presented the environment of science in his work, referring to
simple schoolroom experiments as well as the sterile environment of the science
laboratory, although both are usually inflected with very contrasting associa-
tions. Many of his works are placed in industrially constructed glass vitrines,
reminiscent of scientific museums as well as shop displays. An ongoing series
of vitrines entitled The Acquired Inability to Escape, of which a version is found
in gallery 3, introduce the motif of the cigarette into such a sterile environment.
In Crematorium (1996) and Burial Ground (2008) the quantity of cigarettes is so
multiplied that the allusion to death, and the similarity to the ashes of cremat-
ed human remains, is more clearly stated. When Hirst first began introducing
cigarettes into his work, they were the subject of intense advertising attention,
Beautiful, childish, expressive, tasteless, not art, over simplistic, throw away, kids’ stuff, long after the lethal nature of nicotine addiction was widely known.
lacking in integrity, rotating, nothing but visual candy, celebrating, sensational, inarguably
beautiful painting (for over the sofa), 1996
Hirst’s Natural History works seen here allude to a variety of belief systems,
In parallel, Hirst developed his series of Medicine Cabinet works. These sterile, the sharks in Theology, Philosophy, Medicine, Justice (2008) most expansively.
white cabinets can be seen as anatomical models, in that many contain drugs Others refer substantially to religious imagery. Child (Divided) (1993), Hirst’s
relating to different parts of the body. The first 1989 series of cabinets, including first prominent dissected animal vitrine, was shown at the 1993 Venice Biennale,
Holidays and Problems, take their titles from the tracks on the Sex Pistols’ only and was later exhibited in the display that won him the Turner Prize at the Tate
album, marrying the anarchistic and self-destructive tendencies of punk with Gallery. The mother and child motif is one of the most well represented im-
Hirst’s interest in the body and its inevitable decline. The Medicine Cabinets ages in Christian art, but here the traditional family unit is broken apart quite
Contemplating the Infinite Power and the Glory of God, 2008
viscerally. The Incomplete Truth (2006) emulates a religious representation by
way of a dove in flight that has, in art and Christian history, come to symbolize
the Holy Ghost. The title questions the assumption of total belief.
GALLERY 1
For the Love of God (2007) sits at the center of gallery 1. One of Hirst’s best
known works, it merges his interests in images of death with ideas of belief and 41
value. A diamond encrusted platinum cast of a human skull, with human teeth,
For the Love of God is considered one of the most expensive sculptures ever to
have been produced. It pays homage to Aztec skulls adorned with turquoise and
other precious materials and a wide range of other sacred objects perceived to
be of immeasurable value. The value of this work was part of its concept from
the outset, at a time of record-breaking prices during an especially buoyant pe-
riod in the art market. It relates to Hirst’s other projects that question the value
system associated with art, when he placed bodies of work directly from the
studio into auction sales, circumventing the established gallery system.
Surrounding the “diamond skull” are examples of the artist’s series of Cherry
Blossom paintings. They adopt the method of pointillism from the French
Post-Impressionists. The application of colored dots instead of lines to define
form also has clear associations with Hirst’s own abstract Spot Paintings. Hirst
claimed this approach as a return to making art that his mother would like, a
simple beauty that was appealing to all. As is often the case with Hirst, what
appears as a simple or naïve statement, obfuscates a more critical position.
The cherry blossom is also a symbol of the transitory nature of life in many
cultures, due to their flowering only briefly in spring, extending his explora-
tion of art in relation to the brevity of existence. Together, the diamond skull
and Cherry Blossom paintings continue a questioning of the nature of value
Anatomy of an Angel, 2008 and the transience of life.
A series of works located on the terrace and in the plaza concentrate on sculptural
depictions of the human form. Measuring more than 10-meters-high, the painted
bronze sculpture on the plaza is titled The Virgin Mother (2005). It is based on
an educational model used for anatomical studies that shows a woman close
to full term pregnancy, with one part of her torso exposed of skin and muscle
to reveal her organs. The title has an obvious religious reference, and contin-
ues the merging found throughout Hirst’s work between science and religious
belief. Hirst began producing works based on enlarged anatomical models in
the 1990s, after initially including such models in early Medicine Cabinets. As
with the preserved animals, they take an unflinching approach to the duality
of beauty and horror, applied to the human form, albeit schematically.
Through this survey of Hirst’s broad ranging practice, To Live Forever (For a
While) demonstrates a sustained questioning of our accepted cultural and so-
cial values. While mortality proves an enduring subject for Hirst’s attention,
it is how the reality of death is so consistently avoided that reveals the point
where our lives in all their complexities and contradictions merge.
Sophie J. Williamson
James Baldwin once wrote that “[language], incontestably, reveals the speak-
er,”2 referring to the role of language in both revealing a private identity and
at the same time having the possibility of connecting a person with or di-
vorcing them from the larger, public or communal world around them.3 This
understanding of the way language functions is embedded in a specific kind
of artistic practice that traces its origins in the contemporary era to Marcel
Duchamp and his conception of “the title of a painting [as] another color on
the artist’s palette.”4 A work of art’s title is one of the many meaning-making 47
devices at the disposal of an artist. Though for some titling is only essential
in terms of the identification of a work once it leaves the artist’s studio, for
others—like Damien Hirst—a title is an essential part of the work, a compo-
nent that adds context or layers of meaning that are inextricably linked to the
artist’s creative vision. And thus begs the question: what is the relationship of
image or object to word/s in artistic practices?
On October 14th, 1980, art historian E.H. Gombrich presented “Image and
Word in Twentieth-Century Art” and traced the origins of titling to the Salons
of Europe, where pieces required titles in order to be easily identified. Though,
focusing on the relationship between art, language, its users and the world, he
went on to explain that titles transformed in the 20th-century because of the
Gombrich considered, and the history of art agrees, that it was Marcel Duchamp
who launched art on the path of puzzlement and mediation between word and
image that Hirst makes such interesting use of. When in 1917, he submitted
Fountain to the salon organized by the Society of Independent Artists, was
refused, and followed-up that refusal by presenting the work as an image in
the Surrealist magazine The Blind Man along with a text that argued that the
value of a work of art lay in the artist’s capacity to create a new thought for
that object. This revolutionary act led to a 1960’s epistemological break that
revealed language as a constitutive element of an artwork in that it mediates
the interaction between the viewer and the work, serving an interpretative role.
Hirst’s titles are direct and evocative. As is the case with The History of Pain
(1991), in which pain is referenced through knives that threaten to puncture
the floating beach ball, or body, at any moment. Or in The Acquired Inability
to Escape (Purified) (2008), in which a sealed glass case containing a series
of objects, is literally a container from which it is impossible to escape. And,
if we look more closely and analyze its component parts, one can also start
to make associations to a life lived stuck behind a desk or tied to addictions
whose effects are nearly impossible to escape from.
Though not an artist that directly incorporates words or phrases into the piec-
es he creates themselves, the relationships that emerge from the combination
of image and word reference religion, capitalism and the life/death dichoto-
my precisely through the interplay of language and the aesthetic component
parts of the work. Mother and Child (Divided) (1993) for example alludes to the
art historical and Christian religious motif of the Holy Mother and Child; an
allusion made all the more poignant by the fact that the work was first exhib-
ited at the Venice Biennale of 1993, in what could be referred to as the mecca
of religious art. Hirst however subverts this image, perhaps even attempting
to dispose of the religiosity embedded in the title; for though the piece itself 51
does present a mother and her child, they are forever separated from one an-
other and from themselves rather than joined in a loving embrace.
In line with this subversive line of inquiry, Judgement Day (2009) seems to
be making reference to the shared religious tenet of Abrahamic traditions
called amongst many names the Day of Judgement. And yet, Hirst seems to
be calling out capitalism rather than religion, or perhaps he is arguing that
capitalism has replaced traditional religious models as the contemporary
system of belief. For in a glass, gold plated, steel vitrine, what seems to be
up for judgment is the accumulation of rows upon rows of cubic zirconia that
look exactly like diamonds and visually evoke excess and wealth. Visual ex-
cess is once again called upon in Crematorium (1996), a piece that takes on
the relationship between life and death. Filled with cigarette butts and other
drug paraphernalia, this massive ashtray that lets off a rather unpleasant odor
speaks to the substances that the living choose to put into their bodies, and
that slowly but surely trace a path towards death. The title stating that this
ashtray is the repository for the “cremated” remains of smoked cigarettes and
at the same time pointing towards the method of final disposition of a dead
body through burning.
do not merely repeat what the image shows us visually in any case.”8 Thus,
Hirst’s oeuvre cannot be separated from the task of translating a work into a title
and consequently transposing that title onto a work; for meaning is conveyed
in the liminal space between two, the physical object and the words used to
contextualize it. It is in the interstices between image and the words associat-
52 ed with it that meaning emerges. A condition that Hirst takes full advantage
of through titling, which exemplifies Baldwin’s point that language reveals the
speaker insofar as it reveals the speaker’s (artist’s) preoccupations. Though,
despite the fact that his preoccupations are clearly present, Hirst leaves open
room for interpretation providing only an unexpected direction to the viewer
that he or she is invited to execute through his or her own imagination.
Spot Painting, 1986* The Impossible Lovers, 1991 Naked, 1994 Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue Towards a Better Understanding Black Sheep (Twice), 2007*
[Pintura de puntos] [Los amantes imposibles] [Desnudo] (for Gianni), 1997 of a Life Without God Aboard the Ship [Oveja negra (dos veces)]
Pintura brillante doméstica sobre tabla Vidrio, MDF pintado, madera de haya, Vidrio, acero inoxidable, acero, níquel, [Quién teme al rojo, amarillo y azul of Fools, 2005 Vidrio, acero inoxidable pintado,
[Household gloss on board] acero, silicona, tarros de cristal variados, latón, caucho, cerebro de vaca en solución (para Gianni)] [Hacia una mejor comprensión de una vida silicona, acrílico, bridas, oveja y solución
2438 x 3658 mm órganos de vaca y solución de formaldehído de formaldehído, instrumental quirúrgico Valla publicitaria giratoria de tres caras sin Dios a bordo de la Nave de los Locos] de formaldehído
Colección privada [Glass, painted MDF, beech, steel, silicone, y material de laboratorio [Tri-vision rotating billboard] Vidrio, acero inoxidable, acero, níquel, [Glass, painted stainless steel,
p. 32 assorted glass jars, cows’ organs, and [Glass, stainless steel, steel, nickel, 3302 x 12395 x 114 mm latón, caucho, madera, ropa de cama, silicone, acrylic, cable ties, sheep,
formaldehyde solution] brass, rubber, cow’s brain in formaldehyde Colección privada calzado de hospital, ropa de protección, and formaldehyde solution]
8 Pans, 1987* 1270 x 1016 x 229 mm solution, surgical instruments, Foto de [Photographed by]: Mike Parsons barco de cáscara de palma mexicana, Díptico [Diptych]
[8 sartenes] Colección privada and laboratory equipment] pp. 54-55 cráneo humano e instrumentos 1103 x 1623 x 641 mm cada uno [each part]
Pintura brillante doméstica sobre sartenes 1949 x 2527 x 508 mm y equipo quirúrgico Colección privada
[Household gloss on cooking pans] 11 Sausages, 1993* Colección privada The History of Pain, 1999* [Glass, stainless steel, steel, nickel, p.49
711 x 2362 mm [11 salchichas] [La historia del dolor] brass, rubber, wood, bedding, hospital
Colección privada Acrílico, monofilamento, acero inoxidable, Beautiful, childish, expressive, tasteless, not MDF pintado, acero, hojas de cuchillo de footwear, protective clothing, Mexican Cefoperazone, 2007
pp. 60-61 salchichas y solución de formaldehído art, over simplistic, throw away, kids’ stuff, acero, soplador de aire y pelota de playa palm husk boat, human skull and surgical [Cefoperazona]
[Acrylic, monofilament, stainless steel, lacking in integrity, rotating, nothing but visual [Painted MDF, steel, steel knife blades, air instruments and equipment] Pintura brillante doméstica sobre lienzo
Kitchen Cabinet, 1987 sausages, and formaldehyde solution] candy, celebrating, sensational, inarguably blower and beach ball] 2743 x 3658 x 305 mm [Household gloss on canvas]
[Mueble de cocina] 626 x 475 x 74 mm beautiful painting (for over the sofa), 1996* 960 x 2510 x 2510 mm Colección privada 2337 x 1930 mm
Formica y MDF Colección privada [Hermoso, infantil, expresivo, insípido, no Cortesía del Pinchuk Art Centre (4 in cada punto / spot)
600 x 900 x 300 mm p. 6 es arte, demasiado simplista, desechable, (Kiev, Ucrania) Lapdancer, 2006* La Colección Jumex, México
[Formica and MDF] cosa de niños, carente de integridad, p. 53 [Bailarina exótica]
Colección privada Mother and Child (Divided), 1993* giratorio, nada más que caramelo Vidrio, acero inoxidable, acero, níquel, Death Explained, 2007
[Madre e hijo (divididos)] visual, celebración, sensacional, Urea-13C, 2001 latón, caucho, material médico y quirúrgico [La muerte explicada]
Boxes, 1988* Vidrio, acero pintado, silicona, acrílico, cuadro indiscutiblemente hermoso Pintura brillante doméstica sobre lienzo [Glass, stainless steel, steel, nickel, brass, Vidrio, acero inoxidable pintado, silicona,
[Cajas] monofilamento, acero inoxidable, vaca, (para encima del sofá)] [Household gloss on canvas] rubber, medical and surgical equipment] acrílico, monofilamento, bridas
Pintura brillante doméstica ternera y solución de formaldehído Pintura brillante doméstica sobre lienzo 2997 x 12141 mm 1033 x 2411 x 921 mm de plástico, acero inoxidable, tiburón
sobre cajas de cartón [Glass, painted steel, silicone, acrylic, y motor eléctrico (2 in cada punto / spot) Colección de Peter Marino tigre y solución de formaldehído
[Household gloss on cardboard boxes] monofilament, stainless steel, cow, calf, [Household gloss on canvas Colección privada p. 35 [Glass, painted stainless steel, silicone,
Dimensiones variables and formaldehyde solution] and electric motor] acrylic, monofilament, plastic cable ties,
[Dimensions variable] Cuatro partes, dos partes [Four parts, 3658 mm diámetro [diameter] Memories Lost, Fragments The Incomplete Truth, 2006 stainless steel, tiger shark
Colección privada two parts]: 2070 x 3220 x 1090 mm; dos Colección privada of Paradise, 2003* [La verdad incompleta] and formaldehyde solution]
56 p. 9 partes [two parts]: 1150 x 1670 x 605 mm p. 36 [Recuerdos perdidos, fragmentos Vidrio, aluminio pintado, silicona, Díptico [Diptych] 57
Cortesía de Astrup Fearnley Collection, del paraíso] acrílico, acero inoxidable, paloma 2154 x 5142 x 1228 mm cada uno [each part]
Holidays, 1989* Oslo, Noruega Crematorium, 1996* Vidrio, acero inoxidable, acero, aluminio, y solución de formaldehído Cortesía del Pinchuk Art Centre
[Vacaciones] p. 24 [Crematorio] níquel y pastillas de paracetamol [Glass, painted aluminium, silicone, (Kiev, Ucrania)
Vidrio, aglomerado revestido, Fibra de vidrio pintada, cigarrillos, [Glass, stainless steel, steel, aluminium, acrylic, stainless steel, dove,
madera de haya, plástico, aluminio Away from the Flock, 1994* paquetes de cigarrillos, paquetes nickel, and paracetamol pills] and formaldehyde] For the Love of God, 2007*
y empaques farmacéuticos [Lejos del rebaño] de tabaco, papeles de fumar, cerillos, 1829 x 2743 x 102 mm 2220 x 1760 x 740 mm [Por el amor de Dios]
[Glass, faced particleboard, Vidrio, acero pintado, silicona, acrílico, pañuelos de papel, envoltorios La Colección Jumex, México Cortesía de Lonian Gallery, LLC y Red Platino, diamantes y dientes humanos
beech, plastic, aluminium, bridas de plástico, cordero y solución de caramelos, agitadores, parafernalia p.35 Rock Gallery, LLC [Platinum, diamonds, and human teeth]
and pharmaceutical packaging] de formaldehído de drogas y ceniza 171 x 127 x 190 mm
1372 x 1016 x 229 mm [Glass, painted steel, silicone, [Painted fibreglass, cigarettes, cigarette Eucharist, 2005* The True Artist Helps the World Colección privada
Colección privada acrylic, plastic cable ties, lamb, packaging, tobacco packaging, [Eucaristía] by Revealing Mystic Truths, 2006 p. 43
p. 10 and formaldehyde solution] cigarette papers, matches, tissues, Mariposas y pintura brillante doméstica [El verdadero artista ayuda al mundo
960 x 1490 x 510 mm sweet wrappings, swizzle sticks, drug sobre lienzo revelando verdades místicas] South Rose Window, Lincoln
Problems, 1989 Edición de 3 con 1 prueba de artista paraphernalia and ash] [Butterflies and household gloss on canvas] Vidrio, MDF pintado, madera Cathedral, 2007
[Problemas] [Edition of 3 with 1 artist’s proof] 584 x 2438 mm diámetro [diameter] 2134 x 2134 mm de haya, acrílico, pescados y solución [Rosetón sur de la catedral de Lincoln]
Vidrio, aglomerado revestido, madera Colección de The Long View Legacy, LLC Colección privada Cortesía Inga Rubenstein Collection de formaldehído Mariposas y pintura metálica sobre lienzo
de Koto, clavijas de madera, plástico, p. 23 p. 27 p. 15 [Glass, painted MDF, beech, acrylic, [Butterflies and metallic paint on canvas]
aluminio y empaques farmacéuticos fish, and formaldehyde solution] 2438 mm diámetro [diameter]
[Glass, faced particleboard, Koto, Controlled Substance Key Painting, 1994 Up, Up and Away, 1997 The Virgin Mother, 2005* Tríptico [Triptych] Cortesía de Helen Nguyen-Ban
wooden dowels, plastic, aluminium, [Pintura clave de sustancias controladas] [Arriba, arriba y lejos] [La Virgen Madre] 2134 x 1829 x 165 mm cada uno [each part]
and pharmaceutical packaging] Pintura brillante doméstica sobre lienzo Vidrio, acero pintado, silicona, Bronce pintado Ada Tse and James Yang Collection, Acid Love, 2008
1375 x 1015 x 230 mm [Household gloss on canvas] acrílico, monofilamento, patos [Painted bronze] Hong Kong [Amor ácido]
Colección privada 1219 x 1219 mm y solución de formaldehído 10232 x 4620 x 2065 mm Mariposas y pintura brillante doméstica
Colección privada [Glass, painted steel, silicone, Edición de 3 con 1 prueba de artista We’re Born; We Look Around; We Die, 2006 sobre lienzo
Stimulants (and the Way They Affect acrylic, monofilament, ducks, [Edition of 3 with 1 artist’s proof] [Nacemos; miramos a nuestro [Butterflies and household gloss on canvas]
the Mind and Body), 1991 Jesus Christ, 1994 and formaldehyde solution] Colección privada alrededor; morimos] 2134 x 2134 mm
[Estimulantes (y la forma en que afectan [Jesucristo] Tríptico [Triptych] p. 17 Moscas y resina sobre lienzo Colección privada
a la mente y al cuerpo)] Vidrio, acero pintado, silicona, cabeza 900 x 900 x 310 mm cada uno [each part] [Flies and resin on canvas]
Vidrio, silicona, acrílico, poliestireno, cabezas de toro y solución de formaldehído Edición de 1 con 1 prueba de artista 1016 x 1372 x 102 mm
de oveja y solución de formaldehído [Glass, painted steel, silicone, bull’s head, [Edition of 1 with 1 artist’s proof] Colección privada
[Glass, silicone, acrylic, polystyrene, and formaldehyde solution] Colección privada
sheep’s heads, and formaldehyde solution] 457 x 914 x 457 mm
Díptico [Diptych] La Colección Jumex, México
457 x 686 x 457 mm cada uno [each part]
Colección privada
Anatomy of an Angel, 2008* Self Portrait (Full Body), 2008 Proteus, 2012 The Martyr - Saint Bartholomew, 2019
[Anatomía de un ángel] [Autorretrato (cuerpo completo)] [Proteo] [El mártir - San Bartolomé]
Mármol de Carrara Caja de luz y rayos x Granito negro Bronce dorado
[Carrara marble] [Light box and x-rays] [Black granite] [Gilded bronze]
1870 x 980 x 785 mm 1000 x 2172 x 120 mm 2325 x 1005 x 657 mm 2820 x 900 x 825 mm
Edición de 3 con 1 prueba de artista Edición de 6 con 3 pruebas de artistas Edición de 3 con 2 pruebas de artista Edición de 3 con 2 pruebas de artista
[Edition of 3 with 1 artist’s proof] [Edition of 6 with 3 artist´s proofs] [Edition of 3 with 2 artist’s proofs] [Edition of 3 with 2 artist’s proofs]
Cortesía de la Familia Parnes Private collection Colección privada Colección privada
p. 40
The Acquired Inability* Anoint, 2016 Grave Matters Wallpaper, 2023*
Burial Ground, 2008 to Escape (Purified), 2008 [Unción] [Papel tapiz Asuntos de gravedad]
[Cementerio] [La incapacidad adquirida de escapar Mariposas y pintura brillante doméstica Impresión digital
Contenido de un cenicero sobre lienzo (purificada)] sobre lienzo [Digital print]
[Contents of ashtray on canvas] Vidrio, acero pintado, caucho, silicón, [Butterflies and household gloss pp. 44-45
2134 mm diámetro [diameter] Formica, MDF, silla, cenicero, encendedor on canvas]
Colección privada y cigarrillos 1735 x 1770 mm Tears of Joy Wallpaper, 2011*
[Glass, painted steel, silicone, rubber, Colección privada, Asia [Papel tápiz Lágrimas de alegría]
Contemplating the Infinite Power Formica, MDF, chair, ashtray, lighter Impresión en huecograbado a seis colores
and the Glory of God, 2008* and cigarettes] Reserpine, 2017* [Six color gravure printing]
[Contemplando el poder infinito 2135 x 3045 x 1980 mm [Reserpina] pp. 28-29
y la gloria de Dios] Colección privada Pintura brillante doméstica sobre lienzo
Mariposas y pintura brillante doméstica p. 50 [Household gloss on canvas] The Physical Impossibility of Death
sobre lienzo con hoja de oro 1397 x 1854 mm in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991*
[Butterflies and household gloss on canvas Theology, Philosophy, (1 in cada punto / spot) [La imposibilidad física de la muerte
with gold leaf] Medicine, Justice, 2008* Colección de Hilario Galguera y Rosa en la mente de alguien vivo]
Tríptico, panel izquierdo [Triptych, left [Teología, Filosofía, Medicina, Justicia] María Ortega Vidrio, acero pintado, silicona,
panel]: 2803 x 1830 mm, panel central Vidrio, acero inoxidable pintado, silicona, p. 9 monofilamento, tiburón y solución
[centre panel]: 2943 x 2440 mm, panel monofilamento, tiburón toro y solución de formaldehído
derecho [right panel]: 2803 x 1830 mm de formaldehído Beautiful Happy Blossom, 2018 [Glass, painted steel, silicone,
Colección Domus [Glass, painted stainless steel, silicone, [Hermoso florecimiento feliz] monofilament, shark
pp. 38-39 monofilament, bull sharks and Óleo sobre lienzo and formaldehyde solution]
formaldehyde solution] [Oil on canvas] 2170 x 5420 x 1800 mm
Death Denied, 2008* Díptico [Diptych] Díptico [Diptych] p. 46
[Muerte negada] 1918 x 3225 x 1092 mm cada uno [each part] 2743 x 1829 mm cada uno [each part] No en exposición
Vidrio, acero inoxidable pintado, silicona, Colección privada Cortesía de Lonian Gallery, LLC [Not in the exhibition]
monofilamento, tiburón tigre y solución p. 14
de formaldehído Fantasia Blossom, 2018
58 [Glass, painted stainless steel, silicone, Judgement Day, 2009* [Flor de fantasía] 59
monofilament, tiger shark and [Día del juicio] Óleo sobre lienzo Todas las obras [All works]:
formaldehyde solution] Vidrio, acero inoxidable chapado en oro, [Oil on canvas] © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.
2154 x 5142 x 1884 mm acero, aluminio, níquel y zirconia cúbica 2743 x 1829 mm Todos los derechos reservados
Colección privada [Glass, gold-plated stainless steel, steel, Colección privada [All rights reserved] DACS/Artimage/
p. 20 aluminium, nickel, and cubic zirconia] SOMAAP 2024
2403 x 8743 x 102 mm Imperial Blossom, 2018 *Foto de [Photographed by]
Enlightenment, 2008* The Broad Art Foundation [Flor imperial] Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.
[La Ilustración] p. 52 Óleo sobre lienzo a menos que se indique lo contrario
Mariposas y pintura brillante doméstica [Oil on canvas] [unless otherwise stated].
sobre lienzo Invading the City of Light, 2011 2743 x 1829 mm
[Butterflies and household gloss [Invadiendo la Ciudad de la Luz] Cortesía del Pinchuk Art Centre
on canvas] Hojas de bisturí y pintura Hammerite (Kiev, Ucrania)
2134 x 5334 mm sobre lienzo
Colección privada [Scalpel blades and Hammerite paint Morning Blossom, 2018
pp. 12-13 on canvas] [Flor de la mañana]
1829 x 1219 mm Óleo sobre lienzo
Hades, 2008 Colección privada [Oil on canvas]
Mariposas y pintura brillante doméstica 2743 x 1829 mm
sobre lienzo Devil’s Gate, 2012* Colección privada
[Butterflies and household [Puerta del diablo]
gloss on canvas] Vidrio, acero inoxidable, acero, aluminio, Wisdom’s Blossom, 2018
1219 x 1219 mm níquel, Plastazote y especímenes [Flor de la sabiduría]
Colección privada entomológicos Óleo sobre lienzo
[Glass, stainless steel, steel, aluminium, [Oil on canvas]
Midas and the Infinite, 2008 nickel, Plastazote and entomological 2743 x 1829 mm
[Midas y el infinito] specimens] Colección privada, Nueva York
Mariposas, zirconia cúbica y pintura 2432 x 2432 x 132 mm
esmaltada sobre lienzo Colección privada Close Friendship Blossom, 2019*
[Butterflies, cubic zirconia, and enamel pp. 4-5 [Flor de la amistad cercana]
paint on canvas] Óleo sobre lienzo
3018 x 3018 mm [Oil on canvas]
Colección privada Triptych [Tríptico]
2743 x 1829 mm cada uno [each part]
Cortesía de KFV Gallery, LLC
pp. 18-19
8 Pans, 1987
MUSEO JUMEX
Fundadores
Sr. Eugenio López Rodea †
Sra. Isabel Alonso de López †
Presidente
Eugenio López Alonso
Asistente de Presidencia
Ana Luisa Pérez
Curador en jefe
Kit Hammonds
Gerente de Exposiciones
Begoña Hano
Curadora asociada
Marielsa Castro Vizcarra
Asistentes curatoriales
Adriana Kuri Alamillo, Carolina Estrada
Coordinadora editorial
Arely Ramírez
Diseño gráfico
Carolina Oliva
Coordinadora de Educación
Sofía José
Gerente de Registro
Luz Elena Mendoza
Registro y Montaje
Mariana López, Astrid Esquivel,
Alejandra Braun, Linette Cervantes,
Óscar Díaz, José Juan Zúniga,
Iván Gómez, Adrián González
Equipo de Producción
Erika L. Rivera, Daniel Ricaño,
Gerardo Rivero, Lissette Ruíz,
Arturo Vázquez, Sarai T. Navarro,
Víctor Hernández, Nestor Calixto,
Marco Salazar, Fernando Ramírez,
Ricardo Cervantes, Edgar Orozco
Gerente de Comunicación
Ruth Ovseyevitz
Coordinadora de Comunicación
Mónica Quintini
Gerente de Administración
Aurora Martínez
Equipo de Administración
Arturo Quiroz, Javier Cartagena, Alan E.
Castro, Héctor Polo, Moisés Aparicio,
Marisol Vázquez, Berenice Domínguez,
Edith Martínez, Erika Ávila
Biblioteca
Cristina Ortega
Jefe de Seguridad
Pedro A. Chávez
Equipo de Seguridad
David Bruno, Verónica Martínez,
Alberto Servín, Felipe Trejo
Servicios auxiliares
Fabiola Chapela †, José Escárcega