Hirst
For the Love of God
published in the The Telegraph 1 June 2007
copyright and photographer unattributed











I have been intrigued by the idea of ‘For the Love of God’ ever since I first heard of it. I was curious about the meaning that Hirst intended it to convey, or whether there was any meaning at all. I was curious how it looked too; the description of the large pink fancy emphasizing the ‘third eye’ sounded cliched.




Those questions returned when I eventually saw a photo of it and the large pink fancy is obviously a cliche. The grin, like a pirate’s Jolly Roger, was a surprise. Questions naturally lead to speculation and opinions but I put these to one side as interesting things to delve into for another time. It seemed like an interesting piece for a quick blog article - mistakenly, for whichever way I look at this piece, it points in yet another direction - more, other, different, questions and ways of looking at it and thinking about it came to mind; I’m sure that I’ve barely scratched the surface of what it could be about.




One of the first things you notice amongst the volume of material online about Hirst, is the comparative rarity of interviews and none I’ve read actually ask ‘Ok Damien, what’s your grinning skull about then?’ There is plenty of comment about the piece elsewhere but the absence of quotes by Hirst about the thoughts that inform it, lead me to consider it in relation to the rest of his body of works for any clues that might be relevant - especially as ‘Art’ can be a vehicle to communicate concepts that are difficult to express in language.










There are more images and the opinions of people (English and Netherlands) who have seen ‘For the Love of God’ at The Rijksmuseum’s Universe of opinions on www.fortheloveofgod.nl




Each of the following extracts are taken from interviews that irritatingly assume a familiarity with his body of work. They are by different authors and span a period of 5 years; they have been selected for the glimmers of insight they reveal about the backstory to his works. The second interview includes mention of a ’standardised biography of the artefact’ that was almost overlooked; it consists of a list of associations.







Interview: Damien Hirst
Waldemar Januszczak
The Sunday Times
August 24, 2003


Before Damien Hirst came along, nobody queued to see contemporary art. I was there.


I remember the lack of public interest absolutely vividly. Then Damien unveiled his boxed sharks and his divided cows and suddenly Brit art was as newsworthy as Posh and Becks.


‘I’ve always thought you have to get people listening to you before you can change their minds,’ he explains. The pickled sharks, the expiring flies, the sliced-up pigs, are intent on getting themselves noticed, sure, but once they’ve done that, the message they seek to convey is a charmingly old-fashioned one. Life is short and precious. Death is dark and inevitable.




[This article interweaves biography and art career with material from the interview. Extract taken from page 4]









To die for
By Will Self
The Telegraph
Last Updated: 5:56PM BST 01 Jun 2007


Transparencies of his new show, Beyond Belief, are dealt on to the lightbox like a hand of cards, together with some discards: ‘This is called The Forgiveness, it was called Jacob’s Ladder, it’s like a fly cabinet piece - it’s not in the show. This is Fear of Flying, it’s going to be a foetus suspended from a shark - I am going to make it but not for this show…’ He breaks off and exclaims, ‘What is it with the animals!’ Then kicks the proposition around again, for the umpteenth time, worrying it like a terrier with his staccato, bitten-off pronouncements, speaking first of the menageries on his Devon farm, then animadverting: ‘I just like it when the outside comes inside, like green mould in a ruined house… It’s good to make people have empathy with meat… It’s like a portrait… no, a blank canvas: they don’t want to see a face on it - apart from pork with an apple in its mouth.’


And to me Hirst says, ‘It works better than I thought it would.’ He always talks about his stuff working or not; and now he runs through a standardised biography of the artefact - his mother serving on a jewellery stall in Leeds’s covered market; his childhood realisation of the stones’ totemic significance: pure beauty as ultimate wealth; his acknowledgement of what others’ might think - only to end up saying, with a desperate edge: ‘It’s the maximum I can throw against death; perhaps that’s crass, to pit money against death, but it all depends on what it does visually.’




[Self viewed 'For the Love of God' with Hirst and describes his reactions. This article places Hirst in the wider context of Lambeth and (some of) that area's artistic legacy. It also includes the political climate of the 'Glory Years' (mid to late 90's). This brief summary is unable to convey the breadth of content and the glimpses of Hirst that appear through the way it is written. I would suggest this as an introductory article as it was the easiest to follow and also an enjoyable read.]












Damien Hirst with his sculpture 'The Golden Calf'
published in The Independent 20 June 2008










Damien Hirst
By Anthony Haden-Guest
interviewmagazine.com
26 November 08


AHG: The main piece in the auction was The Golden Calf. And you had a drawing that went with it saying “Beware False Idols!” I wondered, were you trying to pull the temple down? And then I thought, No.


DH: It works on many levels. I was working on cow things, and mad cow disease came out, and it became very topical and very of the moment. It’s kind of a happy accident. But it makes it all the more important. So I had an idea to do The Golden Calf. I knew we needed a big piece to kind of pull the whole exhibition together. And then when you think about all the references to the art market, and the stock market, and cash, and belief, and everything, and religion kind of falling apart . . . All of those things made me realize that was definitely the right thing to do. But I never go for a complete obvious meaning and say, “Right, that’s the way I want it to look.” It’s always just lots and lots of universal triggers. And when it’s a combination of all the ideas, it feels right. So I go ahead with it. And the gold! I mean, rather than avoiding it, go with it! Especially since I was aware that I’ve got to come up with something to match the diamond skull.




[This interview presents the most coherent and extensive quotes from Hirst on a range of topics including business, career, originality, direction and attitude towards art. It appears to be a verbatim record of a conversation and the topics seemed to skip around, which I found difficult to follow at times, however it was worth the effort. Extract taken from page 3.]

Seated Colossus of Ramesses II
Entrance to Temple of Luxor
ca. 1279-1213 B.C.
Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

Hepworth’s singular way of seeing was triggered by a lecture she heard on Egyptian sculpture as a seven-year-old schoolgirl. The lecture was given by her headmistress at Wakefield Girls High School and, as Hepworth put it, “fired me off”. From then on, she wrote, everything was “forms, shapes and textures”. When her father drove her across the countryside in his car, all she saw was sculpture. The car became her hands as she “felt and touched the contours of the hills”.



Source
















Colossi of Ramesses II at Memphis

















How these master carvers achieved perfect surfaces on this scale with simple tools was beyond my comprehension. My own twenty years’ experience provided no clue. But clearly this was not the work of slaves. This forty-foot length of stone could only have been brought to life through the sensitive hand and watchful eye of a master sculptor, and with a great deal of loving care.




Stuart M. Edelson




More about the Colossus of Ramesses II




























Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley


I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And Wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing besides remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.



More about Ramesses II







Colossal bust of Ramesses II, the ‘Younger Memnon’
From the Ramesseum, Thebes
Egypt 19th Dynasty, about 1250 BC

“I found there was such beauty in the co-ordinated human endeavour that the composition – human in appearance – became abstract in shape. I became completely absorbed by the extraordinary beauty of purpose between human beings all dedicated to saving life; and the way this special grace (grace of mind and body) induced a spontaneous space composition, an articulated and animated kind of abstract sculpture very close to what I had been seeking in my own work.”

[1]


HEPWORTH 1903-1975
Fenestration (The Microscope)
1948
Pencil and oil on gesso-prepared board
14 x 18 inches; 35.5 x 45.8 cm.











Barbara Hepworth
Mother and Child
1934
Wakefield Art Gallery
copyright Bowness, Hepworth Estate







I recently visited the Moore | Hepworth | Nicholson - A Nest of Gentle Artists in the 1930s exhibition where I saw this Hepworth Mother and Child and was struck by the tenderness of the composition. It brings to mind those heart stopping moments when babies are learning to stand - and spend more time falling down, that precarious moment of poised success before the wobbling legs collapse into a surprised heap of giggles.





Reducing the forms to this simple expression emphasizes that moment and the universality of the experience. Most of us have seen something like this and though it’s unlikely we remember it, we will have been that tiny form trying to stand. The process of de-personalizing the moment through simplification has paradoxically made it more accessibly, individually personal at the same time as emphasizing the universality of the experience. And, taking the analogy a step further, is a wonderful reminder about the persistence of effort.





The image doesn’t do the piece justice, it can’t because one aspect of it is that it’s actually two pieces with the baby being removeable - it ’sits’ on a peg, though it fits in only one position. There is another piece also titled ‘Mother and Child’ by Hepworth in this exhibition but the one shown here outshines it for me.




Exhibition tours to the Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield from 20 May – 29 August 09



































“I must always have a clear image of the form of a work before I begin. Otherwise there is no impulse to create.”













Two Rocks
1971
Irish black marble
Height: 116.8 cm /46 ins

























“One must be entirely sensitive to the structure of the material that one is handling. One must yield to it in tiny details of execution, perhaps the handling of the surface or grain, and one must master it as a whole.”















Group of Three Magic Stones
1973
Silver
Edition of 6
7.6 × 35 × 31 cm / 3 × 13 3/4 × 12 1/4 ins


















“components fall into place and one is no longer aware of the detail except as the necessary significance of wholeness and unity.”
[2]



















Disc with Strings (Moon)
BH484
1969
Aluminium with strings, edition 4 of 9 + 0
Height: 18 inches


















A few Quotes





And a few more Quotes





More examples of works by Dame Barbara Hepworth at the New Art Centre



















[1] An extract from her autobiography that relates to her watching a team of surgeons operating, quoted by Will Gompertz in his article My life in art: Barbara Hepworth and the art of alchemy, further information about her autobiograhy is not provided.



[2] source as [1]

Here is a place that turns up as a subject several times amongst The Norwich School of Painters. It’s a place steeped in interesting history. The Norfolk Archeological Trust state that “It was the only Anglo-Saxon monastery in the county which continued in use throughout the Middle Ages” and that “… the site was left undisturbed after the Dissolution because of its inaccessible location.” They have more details, art, site plans and photos on their St Benet’s Abbey page




I’ve been here about three times; two of those occasions were more memorable for disappointments. The first was a picnic plagued by flies and inquisitive cows; the second was a bitterly cold and windy day early in the year. This is one of those places that leaves me feeling great sympathy for anyone who ever had to live there. The surrounding landscape is as flat as Noel Coward said; almost the only objects above the horizon are clouds; virtually the only noticeable change of view anywhere around the ruins is which side of the Abbey you’re looking at - at least, this is how I recall it.



In short, this is the last place on earth I would choose as a subject. But look what the Norwich School could do with this ‘back of beyond’.

Remains of St Benedict's Abbey on the Norfolk Marshes - Thunderstorm clearing off 1847
Henry Bright
(1810-1873)
oil on canvas 1847
80.3 cm x 132.9 cm
Castle Museum number NWHCM : 1947.172.1 : F
© 2007 Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery

‘…As the following pages will prove, Henry Bright’s life was one of honourable distinction in his calling. He had Royalty, his brother brushes, and, if the numerous cuttings I have inspected are any criterion, the Press on his side. He was a highly successful art-master, a member of the New Society of Painters in Water-Colours, and a familiar exhibitor at the Royal Academy and British Institution. To crown all, he enjoyed the friendship of Turner. Despite all these advantages, the public passed to something fresh, but I am happy in the belief that my own efforts at restoring his laurels are taking effect, and that Henry Bright will be a name to recognise in future text-books.’

Augustus Walker

from Henry Bright of the Norwich School by Frederic Gordon Roe
(link to article currently broken - awaiting notification of repair)

A brief biography of John Sell Cotman mentions that “… in 1799 he left to work with the patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759-1833) … Cotman became a prominent member of the Sketching Club founded by Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)”

Maybe that could contain the germ of some explanation why this was such a popular subject as J.M.W. Turner, Tintern Abbey, the transept, a watercolour at the British Museum states that “From 1795 to 1798 Turner was employed by Dr Monro in the evenings to paint washes over copies of watercolours by J.R. Cozens, for which Thomas Girtin drew the outlines.”

St. Benet’s Abbey, Norfolk
John Sell Cotman (1782-1842)
watercolour on paper
1831
32 cm x 47 cm
inscription in red bottom left signed and dated ‘J.S. Cotman 1831′

And finally as you might expect, the ruined Abbey also features in local folklore as part of the legend of a ‘wyrm’…





“A fire-breathing dragon struck fear into the hearts of the Ludham residents. Upon discovering its cave they tried blocking the entrance, but the dragon merely tore away the rubble. Finally one man found a boulder that was the exact shape of the cave entrance and blocked it up whilst the dragon was out.




On finding its cave blocked the dragon moved to the vaults under the ruins of the Abbey of St Benadict.”






A very pragmatic dragon!





More dragon legends from around the UK at The British Dragon Gazetteer

These are three of my favourites that I make a beeline for when I visit Norwich Castle.










John Middleton
Lane Scene
Watercolour
32.2 - 47.6 cms
Norfolk Museums Service
Norwich Castle Museum







It may seem a strange thing to say but I have learnt so much about drawing from studying his delightful watercolours. The way he balances the elements of strong dark passages with loosely defined areas and brings his paintings into focus by using sharply defined edges sparingly.


Overlaid on this foundation, he adds suggestions of texture. He combines these elements to form paintings that give a sense of depth and light, yet surprisingly, there is very little ‘white paper’ left visible in the completed works. He avoids this becoming gloomy by using the opacity of the darker passages to contrast the translucency of the lighter tones so that the light reflecting back through the pigment glows.










John Middleton
Blofield, Norfolk 1847
Watercolour
33 - 48.2 cms
Norfolk Museums Service
Norwich Castle Museum







Middleton is often overlooked in the rush to see the major names of John Sell Cotman and John Crome from the Norwich School. There appears to be nothing about him or his life anywhere online - his name turns up in connection with The Norwich School but apart from the few works available online there is nothing I can find, beyond the record of his tragically short lifespan 1827-1856.









John Middleton
Alby Norfolk 1847
Watercolour
31.7 - 48.2 cms
Norfolk Museums Service
Norwich Castle Museum









The pictures all link to an online collection of his works. The images above are inexpert scans made from my postcards; the scanning has added a red cast to the images which is strictly inaccurate. Copyright information is not included on the cards but probably belongs to Norwich Castle Museum or the Norfolk Museums Service.