Damien Hirst: Cherry Blossoms

In Spring 2021 the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain will open an exhibition dedicated to Damien Hirst and his latest painting series, Cherry Blossoms. The series is a continuation of Hirst’s career-long exploration into the power of painting and the relationship between artist and the canvas, demonstrated in the Spot Paintings (1986–2011), Visual Candy (1993–1995), Colour Space Paintings (2016), and Veil Paintings (2017). Both an appropriation and a tribute to the pictorial art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this new series marks the return of the artist in his own studio. Using a conceptual approach, Damien Hirst explores in Cherry Blossoms the questions of beauty, colour, and excess in painting.

Includes texts by Emanuele Coccia (Italian philosopher), Philippe Costamagna (French art historian), Michio Hayashi (Japanese art historian), Gilda Williams (American art historian), and an anthology of literary texts brought together by Alberto Manguel.

Toggle between figuration and abstraction [...] They're more than paintings of flowers. They are exuberant and life-affirming but also excessive and messy.--Chloë Ashby "Guardian"

The show's catalogue raisonné is a monumental display of the Fondation's commitment to the show and its belief in Hirst the painter - full-colour versions of all 107 pieces feature alongside a cherry-blossom cultural anthology and four essays by critics from around the world, hitherto unconnected to Hirst, who set it within a cultural, botanic, and poetic context.--Beatrice Hodgkin "Financial Times"

Damien Hirst, born 1965, studied for a BA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College. In 1988, he conceived and curated a group exhibition of Goldsmiths students, titled Freeze, which marked the beginning of his career through the birth of the Young British Artists movement. Through installation, sculpture, painting, and drawing, Damien Hirst explores the complex relationship between art, life, and death in his work. A world-famous artist, who was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995―rewarding a contemporary British artist under the age of 50―, he has had numerous solo shows in museums and institutions worldwide, namely, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice; Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable (2017), Tate Modern; Damien Hirst (2012) and ICA; Internal Affairs (1991) in London. Emanuele Cocciais an Italian Philosopher and Associate Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris. Philippe Costamagna is a French art historian, Director of Palais Fesch-Musée des Beaux-Arts, Ajaccio (France). Michio Hayashi is a Japanese art historian and professor at Sophia University, Tokyo. Gilda Williams is an American professor and art historian at Goldsmiths College (Department of Arts), London. Alberto Manguel is an Argentine-Canadian anthologist, essayist, novelist, editor, and former Director of the National Library of Argentina.