Object Damien Hirst, For the Love of God, 2011
When Damien Hirst’s platinum cast human skull covered with 8,601 flawless diamonds sold for $100 million in 2007, it became the most expensive contemporary artwork ever made. The bejewelled skull stands in the tradition of the memento mori — a reminder of the inevitability of death — which has long fascinated the artist. ‘Death is just something that inspires me, not something that pulls me down,’ he once said. But it can also be interpreted as a glorious, devotional, defiant gesture. By decorating or disguising death, you can ‘make it look like something bearable,’ Hirst says.
Diamonds, of course, are a provocative choice. Associated with beauty and a violent, bloody trade, they symbolise our complex notions of value. For Hirst, ‘they bring out the best and the worst in people […] people kill for diamonds, they kill each other’.
Treat yourself to this iconic silkscreen print with glaze and diamond dust for a fraction of the price of the original. Needless to say, it’ll bewitch guests long after spooky season is over.
