Publisher's Synopsis
This publication accompanies the forthcoming Damien Hirst exhibition at White Cube Gallery which opens on 22nd May 2012. The new paintings look very 'classical'. The subject is traditional, and the objects - a parrot, cherry blossom, a pepper grinder - run close to a parody of traditional painting. yet they don't look like anything else and are self-referential. The paintings are about looking. Looking to find where happiness and sadness meet. They're inbetween those two feelings - the painting and viewer are dragged towards hope but the doubt always comes back. Doubt about the future. All art is celebration even if it's a celebration of the darkness.
