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Belief, Complacency, Hype, Hubris

Damien Hirst's Demon With a Bowl in Venice

Pat Hoffie
Eyeline 88
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Damien Hirst, Hydra and Kali Discovered by Four Divers, 2016. Powder-coated aluminium, printed polyester and acrylic lightbox, 244.2 x 366.2 x 10cm. Photograph Christoph Gerigk. Images © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017.

The big buses that sulked together in groups around the Piazzale Roma were the first give-away. Even before the millions of tourists arriving at the Venice end of the long causeway from the mainland could cross the Ponte della Costituzione, there was a sense that the main event had been trumped by a sideshow, for the buses had been completely shrink-wrapped in the underwater turquoise and blue advertising for the two venue exhibition of Damien Hirst’s Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.

For those who are interested enough, and who have the time and cash to indulge their interests, the Venice Biennale is the once-every-two-year ‘big gun’ of international art biennales: it was the first Biennale, and it includes international participation on a national (and competitive) basis. This year the European trifecta of simultaneous survey shows at Kassel (Documenta—every 5 five years) and Munster (Skulptur Projekte—every ten years) made the pilgrimage three times more appealing to the devotees.

In case of any lingering doubt about what and where the star attraction might be, all the vaporetti and punte and laneways and piazzas were similarly tagged by advertisements for the Hirst show. The advertising had been extended to the point that it was part of the city itself. Amidst the confection of Venice’s light-play and movement, and frothy rococo excesses, it looked convincing with its title’s inferred association with science and history and heritage. The inference suggested a gravitas of cultural realpolitik that could be capable of taking the audience above and beyond the petty nationalist responses that continue to provide the framework for considering (and adjudicating) the contemporary work of the official Biennale.

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Damien Hirst, Hydra and Kali Discovered by Four Divers, 2016. Powder-coated aluminium, printed polyester and acrylic lightbox, 244.2 x 366.2 x 10cm. Photograph Christoph Gerigk. Images © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017.

Damien Hirst, Hydra and Kali Discovered by Four Divers, 2016. Powder-coated aluminium, printed polyester and acrylic lightbox, 244.2 x 366.2 x 10cm. Photograph Christoph Gerigk. Images © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017.

Damien Hirst, Demon with Bowl (Exhibition Enlargement), 2014. Painted resin, 1822 x 789 x 1144cm. Photograph Prudence Cuming Associates. © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017.

Damien Hirst, Demon with Bowl (Exhibition Enlargement), 2014. Painted resin, 1822 x 789 x 1144cm. Photograph Prudence Cuming Associates. © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017.