Damien Hirst, one of Britain’s most celebrated artists, accepted an invitation from the Ljubljana International Biennale of Graphic Arts to produce a completely new show for their 25th Biennale in 2003.  The invitation followed in the wake of the prestigious Biennale Grand Prize awarded to Hirst in 2001 for his suite of The Last Supper prints.

For Ljubljana, Hirst chose to put together his first exhibition of drawings.  Spanning his entire career, the exhibition consists of approximately 100 drawings drawn from a large number of public and private collections.  They range from early drawings from when Hirst was a teenager to intimate drawings made for close friends. The exhibition will also include preparatory sketches for some of Hirst’s well-known sculptural work as well as sketches and ideas for future work.  The range of material is broad and eclectic, shadowing Hirst’s countless interests and enthusiasms and casting a unique insight into the life and working methods of this much publicised artist.

Born in 1965 in Bristol, Hirst grew up in Leeds and came to prominence while still a student at Goldsmiths College when he masterminded the highly acclaimed group show Freeze (1988) and then Gambler (1990) and Modern Medicine (1990).  His work has been included in many group exhibitions, among them Young British Artists (Saatchi Gallery, 1992), Sensation (Royal Academy of Arts, 1997), as well as solo exhibitions, most recently Theories, Models, Methods, Approaches, Assumptions, Results and Findings at the Gagosian Gallery, New York (2000).   Hirst won the Turner Prize in 1995.

A fully illustrated 200-page catalogue with a text by A.A.Gill and a limited-edition T-shirt accompanies the show, designed by the artist in collaboration with Jason Beard.  The catalogue will feature the most complete set of Hirst’s drawings to date. A single glass vitrine sculpture, From the Cradle to the Grave, 2000, is also included in the exhibition.

Exhibition tour dates:

International Centre of Graphic Arts, Tivoli Castle, Ljubljana, Slovenia

11 June – 28 September 11.00 – 20.00 (closed Mondays)

For further information please contact Brett Rogers