Saturday 30 July 2011

An exhibition at Leeds City Art Gallery: Damien Hirst.

The exhibition invites one to be disturbed at the door. How disappointing. In fact the signage plainly states that if one is easily offended then this might not be your cup of tea and perhaps not to bother coming in. Let’s say, if one could be offended by a photograph of a dead man’s head, condensation, and / or bad art then perhaps it would be better to save the train fare and do something less boring instead.

After a quick count there seems to be ten pieces in the exhibition, ranging from what could be loosely transcribed as sculpture, installation and miscellanea. I found the work to be largely uninspiring and felt that the hype leading up to the impromptu collection and the work of the said man himself to be nauseatingly overrated.

Each piece of work resonates with technical assistance and lacks the ability to move, literally. The only message that emanates from the shambolic collection is that conceptual art is mere consumerism that has gone off. Yesterday’s seminal art is today’s car boot sale.

No comments: