Images surfaced yesterday of the Damien Hirst -designed TREK bike that Lance Armstrong will be riding in the eighth stage of the Tour de France bike race next week. The bike, like most things Hirst is attached to, is impressive, and the graphics look like they were created by a crazy man. To put it lightly, Hirst is a crazy man. Crazy paid, that is.
The name "Damien Hirst" is famous, and perhaps you posted his Supreme skateboard collaboration to your blogspot/Twitter and pretended to know his deal. Or maybe you copped that 10Deep T-shirt (?). Dude is actually pretty awesome, and just in case you find yourself pulling a blank when the British homie gets brought up in conversation, we figured we'd break down the bullet points for you. Hit the jump and get educated on Damien Hirst's most iconic/interesting work so next time you sneak into a gallery function for the free Krug you'll be all set.
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991)
• It's a shark swimming in formaldehyde. Anyone can do that, right? Right, but only one guy did. Originally commissioned in 1991 by Charles Saatchi, the ad superhero re-sold it in 2004, turning Hirst into the second most expensive living artist after Jasper Johns at the time (he surpassed Johns in 2007). It also put Hirst on the map in a big way. Due to deterioration of the original 14-foot (4.3 m) tiger shark, it was replaced with a new specimen in 2006. It is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City until 2010. Cop the Lego version and act like you know.
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Pharamacy (1992)
• A lot of Hirst's art questions the ideas of art itself, and this life-sized recreation of a pharmacy inside the Tate London was one of his more banger wacko installs. He had all that shark money leftover and figured, "Yeah, let's just go for it and see what happens."
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Spot Paintings (1990s)
• Recalling his Spot paintings, for which he first became known in the '90s, Hirst says: "I only painted the first five and I was like, 'Fuck this,' I hated it. As soon as I sold one, I used the money to pay people to make them. They were better at it than me. I get bored. I get very impatient." There's about 300 or so of these, one of which we're pretty sure Hov owns.
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Hymn (1996)
• Hey, get it? It's like science class only way way waaaaay more expensive. As a side note, the science guys got mad.
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Stations of the Cross by Damien Hirst and David Bailey (2004)
• This series of twelve photographs depicting the final moments of Jesus Christ got the Christians in a tiff while making Hirst more of an art star. The collab with David Bailey mixed some nudity in with the blood and dead cows—click over if you want to see the boob shot.
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Aubade Crown of Glory (2006)
• Ok, stained glass window. Wait a second, those are exotic butterfly wings! Thousands of them. L.A. shit its collective pants when these showed up.
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For the Love of God (2007)
• Hirst's platinum skull is encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead of the skull. It cost £14 million to produce, and went on display at the White Cube gallery in London at an asking price of £50 million, which would have been the highest price ever paid for a single work by a living artist. It sold for $100 million, kind of.
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The Hours Music Video featuring Sienna Miller (2008)
• Dude had some time on his hands while the Hirst factory team churned out work. He figured he'd link up with Brit pop super group The Hours and have British Lohan-to-be Sienna Miller go nuts on video. Having Damien Hirst direct a video for your band isn't so bad.
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Damien Hirst X Supreme (2009)
• Hirst teamed up with Supreme to promote his Spin paintings through skateboards this past April. A solid investment, these puppies are reselling at at least double on eBay today.
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Damien Hirst x Livestrong x TREK "Stages"
• Look for this full Livestrong x TREK "Stages" bike to be revealed next week, a special design that Hirst did for Lance Armstrong, and a pattern that will appear in a Hirst piece for the "Stages" art exhibit, a traveling show that will feature work by KAWS, Hirst, Mark Newsom, Os Gemeos and others.
