DAMIEN HIRST

Anatomy of an Angel

- You can frigthten people with death or an idea about their own mortality, or it can actually give them vigour.

 

The Anatomy of an Angel is the contribution to the collection by British artist (born  1965). He surprises, provokes, inspires and excites. uses painting, drawings and various installations to explore the relationship between art, beauty, religion, science, life and death.

Anatomy of an Angel is hewn in Carrara marble and the artist first sculpture in this medium. Hirst has looked to  Alfred Boucher's 1920 bronze sculpture L’Hirondelle for inpiration. Nevertheless, the differences are vital. Boucher's figure is a beautiful, pure angel, Hirst questions its anatomy or humanity. He has chosen to give the angel the same anatomy as a normal, mortal woman. The structures beneath the skin are laid bare, as if by scientific examination. The work reflects Hirst's fascination with human anatomy and modern science.

In Anatomy of an Angel Hirst fuses his interest in religious iconography with the notion that science itself is somehow sacred.

Anatomy of an Angel, 2008

© Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS / BONO 2017