Lot 196^AR

Damien Hirst
(British, born 1965)
Beautiful Squidgy Beep Beep Red Nose Painting 2006

inscribed Damien and Ian; studio stamp on the reverse
household gloss on canvas laid on board
92 by 92 cm.
36 1/4 by 36 1/4 in.
This work was executed in 2006.

Contemporary Two

19 October 2011, 13:00 BST

London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £34,850 inc. premium

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Damien Hirst (British, born 1965)

Beautiful Squidgy Beep Beep Red Nose Painting
2006

inscribed Damien and Ian; studio stamp on the reverse
household gloss on canvas laid on board
92 by 92 cm.
36 1/4 by 36 1/4 in.
This work was executed in 2006.

Footnotes

This work is registered in the Science Ltd Archive, London under reference DHS 6666.

PROVENANCE
A gift from the artist to the present owner

"The spin paintings were the end of abstract expressionism. I mean, where do you go from there? That automated, random movement of colours is what Pollock was trying to do. It brought that branch of painting to a conclusion."
Sir Peter Blake on Damien Hirst in Dazed Digital, November 2010

Although Damien Hirst requires no introduction, the story behind his iconic Spin series is perhaps less well known. Held in 1993 in the not-yet-gentrified district of Shoreditch, Joshua Compton's Fete Worse Than Death was a day long event involving some of the most exciting emerging artists of the time, including Tracey Emin, Michael Landy, Gavin Turk and Gary Hume. Hirst attended the Fete dressed in a clown outfit, accompanied by fellow YBA Angus Fairhurst in similar comedy garb, sporting white faces, colourful Max Wall wigs and the traditional ludicrously long shoes. Constructing a rudimentary spinning machine from an inverted power drill and a block of wood, they created small-scale spins on paper, each signed by both artists on the reverse. Hirst immediately saw the potential in this technique which has since become one of the most celebrated of his career, if not one of the most instantly recognisable of the Post-Modern era.

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