Pier Arts Centre | 20 June – 12 September 2015
A display of work by Damien Hirst, the infamous Young British Artist who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s.
Away from the Flock (1994)
In 1991 Charles Saatchi offered to fund whatever artwork Damien Hirst wanted to make. The result was The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living – a £6,000 shark corpse floating in a formaldehyde vitrine. It was displayed in the Young British Artists first exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery the following year, and its reception catapulted Hirst into the public spotlight.
Here a range of Hirst’s work is shown alongside the centre’s collection of pieces by his close friend Margaret Mellis – an important mentor during the development of his early career. Mellis was one of the last survivors of the modernist artists that gathered in St Ives in the 1940s, and she played an important role in establishing the prestige of the colony. Hirst has publicly lamented that her work has been unduly neglected.
Address: Pier Arts Centre, 28–36 Victoria Street, Stromness, Highlands and Islands, KW16 3AA
Tel: 01856 850209
Website: www.pierartscentre.com
Admission:
Free entry to all
Free exhibitions to all
Open hours:
Tue – Sat, 10.30am – 5pm
(for additional seasonal openings see website http://www.pierartscentre.com)