Damien Hirst: Butterfly Inspiration

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the Damien Hirst exhibition at the Tate Modern, London and was blown away by the butterfly rooms.

This is one of his Spin Paintings, where each canvas is spun on a turntable while different coloured paints are poured on top, resulting in works that are a celebration of the pure joy of colour!

 

Here Hirst has arranged butterflies into complex patterns reminiscent of medieval stained glass church windows

This one is called Black Sun 2004, where the black surface is densely covered in clusters of dead flies (yes, you read that right!). It is monolithic in size, placed against the vibrant beauty of the butterfly paintings. To see the actual size click here. The butterflies carry religious associations of resurrection, while the fly motif conveys a more sombre association of death and decay.

If you get a chance to visit, do so, as Damien Hirst always makes an impact, even though some people find his work 'difficult to take!'

The exhibition runs until 9 September 2012 at the Tate Modern, London.

{all images belong to Iced VoVos}

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