Gary Tatintsyan Gallery has opened an exhibition of Damien Hirst, one of the most expensive and famous contemporary artists. This is not the first time Hirst has been brought to Russia: before that, there was a retrospective at the Russian Museum, a small exhibition at the Triumph Gallery, and a collection of the artist himself at MAMM. This time, visitors will be presented with the most significant works of 2008, sold by the artist himself at Sotheby's personal auction in the same year. Buro 24/7 tells why butterflies, colorful circles and pills are so important for understanding Hirst's work.

How Hirst Became an Artist

Damien Hirst can be fully considered the personification of Young British Artists - a generation of no longer young, but very successful artists, whose heyday came in the 90s. Among them are Tracey Emin with neon inscriptions, Jake and Dinos Chapman with a love for small figures and a dozen other artists.

YBA is united not only by studying at the prestigious Goldsmiths College, but also by the first joint Freeze exhibition, which took place in 1988 in an empty administration building on the London docks. Hirst himself acted as curator - he selected works, ordered a catalog and planned the opening of the exhibition. Freeze caught the attention of Charles Saatchi, an advertising mogul, collector and future patron of Young British Artists. Two years later, Saatchi purchased Hirst's first installation in his collection, A Thousand Years, and also offered him sponsorship for his future creations.

Damien Hirst, 1996. Photo: Catherine McGann/Getty Images

The theme of death, which later became central in Hirst's work, slips already in A Thousand Years. The essence of the installation was a constant cycle: flies appeared from the eggs of the larvae, which crawled to the rotting cow's head and died on the wires of the electronic fly swatter. A year later, Saatchi loaned Hearst money to create another work about the cycle of life - the famous shark stuffed in formaldehyde.

"The physical impossibility of death in the mind of the living"

In 1991, Charles Saatchi bought an Australian shark for Hirst for six thousand pounds. Today, the shark symbolizes the soap bubble of contemporary art. It has become a staple of the press (Sun's article "£50,000 for a fish without chips" is an example) and has also become one of the main themes of Don Thompson's book How to Sell a Stuffed Shark for $12 Million: The Scandalous Truth About Contemporary Art and auction houses.

Despite the noise, in 2006 the work was bought for eight million dollars by the head of the hedge fund, Steve Cohen. Among interested buyers was Nicolas Serota, director of the Tate Modern, the largest contemporary art museum along with New York's MoMA and Paris' Center Pompidou. Attention to the installation was attracted not only by the list of key names for contemporary art, but also by the time of its existence - 15 years. Over the years, the body of the shark had become rotten, and Hurst had to replace it and pull it on a plastic frame. “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of the Living” was the first work in the Natural History series - later Hirst also placed a sheep and dismembered carcasses of cows in formaldehyde.

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991

Black Sheep 2007

Love's Paradox (Surrender or Autonomy, Separateness as a Precondition for Connection.), 2007

The Tranquility of Solitude (for George Dyer), 2006

Rotations and kaleidoscopes

Hirst's work can be divided into several genres. In addition to the mentioned aquariums with formaldehyde, “rotations” and “spots” are distinguished - the latter are performed by the artist’s assistants in his studio. Butterflies continue the theme of life and death. Here is a kaleidoscope like a stained-glass window in a Gothic cathedral, and a grandiose installation “To fall in love or out of love” - rooms completely filled with these insects. For the sake of creating the latter, Hirst sacrificed about nine thousand butterflies: 400 new insects were brought daily to the Tate Gallery, where the retrospective was held, to replace the dead.

The retrospective became the most visited in the history of the museum: in five months it was seen by almost half a million spectators. Next to the theme of life and death, there is logically a "pharmacy" - when looking at the dotted paintings of the artist, associations arise precisely with medicines. In 1997, Damien Hirst opened the Apteka restaurant. It closed in 2003, and the sale of decor and interior items at auction brought in an astounding $11.1 million. Hirst also developed the topic of medical preparations in a more visual way - a separate series of the artist is devoted to cabinets with manually laid out pills. The most financially successful work was "Spring Lullaby" - a rack with pills brought the artist $ 19 million.

Damien Hirst, Untitled, 1992; In Search of Nirvana, 2007 (installation fragment)

"For the Love of God"

Another famous work of Hirst (and also expensive in every sense) is a skull studded with more than eight thousand diamonds. The work got its name from the First Epistle of John - "For this is the love of God." This again refers us to the theme of the frailty of life, the inevitability of death and reasoning about the essence of being. In the forehead of the skull is a diamond worth four million pounds. The production itself cost Hirst 12 million, and the price for the work was in the end about 50 million pounds (about $ 100 million). The skull was shown at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum and then sold to a group of investors through the White Cube gallery of Jay Jopling, another major dealer who collaborated with Hirst.

Damien Hirst, "For this is the love of God", 2007

Records, fakes and the phenomenon of fame

Although Hirst does not set absolute records, among living artists, he is considered one of the most expensive. The rise in prices for his work peaked at the end of the 2000s - with the sale of a shark, a skull and other works. Sotheby's auction at the height of the economic crisis of 2008 can also be called a separate episode: it brought him 111 million pounds, which is 10 times more than the previous record - a similar auction by Picasso in 1993. The most expensive lot was the Golden Calf - the carcass of a bull in formalin, sold for 10.3 million pounds.

The history of Hirst's formation is an example of an ideal scenario for any contemporary artist, in which competent marketing played almost a key role. Even ridiculous stories like the gallery cleaner Eyestorm, who put an artist's installation in a trash bag, or a Florida pastor convicted of trying to sell Hirst fakes in 2014, look unintelligible against the backdrop of the artist's high-profile antics. The decline in interest in Hirst has become most evident in the last five years after another exhibition at the White Cube.- the pressure of the critics became more tangible, Hirst's ingenuity no longer amazed the jaded public, and the auction records passed to other players - Richter, Koons and Kapoor. One way or another, Hirst's halo of fame continues to extend to his old works, which today can be viewed in the Tatintsian Gallery. Ahead of Hirst and new projects - on the eve of the Venice Biennale, the artist opens a large exhibition in Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. According to the press release, they are "the fruit of a decade of work" - it is likely that everyone will talk about Damien Hirst again.

Damien Stephen Hirst (eng. Damien Hirst; June 7, 1965, Bristol, UK) is an English artist, entrepreneur, art collector, and the most famous figure of the Young British Artists group, who has dominated the art scene since the 1990s.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST

Damien Hirst was born in Bristol and grew up in Leeds. His father was a mechanic and car salesman who left the family when Damien was 12 years old. His mother, Mary, was an amateur artist. She quickly lost control of her son, who was arrested twice for shoplifting.

Damien first studied at an art school in Leeds, then, after two years working on construction sites in London, he tried to enter Central St Martin's College of Art and Design and some college in Wales. Eventually, he was accepted into Goldsmiths College (1986-1989). In the 1980s, Goldsmith College was considered innovative: unlike other schools that collected students who failed to get into a real college, Goldsmith School attracted many talented students and resourceful teachers. Goldsmith introduced an innovative program that did not require students to draw or paint. Over the past 30 years, this model of education has become widespread throughout the world.

As a student at the school, Hurst regularly visited the mortuary. Later, he will notice that many themes of his works originate there.

In July 1988, Hirst curated the now-famous Freeze exhibition in the empty Port of London Authority building on the London Docks; the exhibition featured the work of 17 students of the school and his own creation - a composition of cardboard boxes, painted with paint latex paints. The Freeze exhibition itself was also the fruit of Hirst's work. He himself selected the works, ordered the catalog and planned the opening ceremony.

Freeze has become a starting point for several YBA artists; in addition, the well-known collector and patron of the arts, Charles Saatchi, drew attention to Hirst. Hearst graduated from Goldsmiths College in 1989.

In 1990, together with friend Karl Friedman, he organized another exhibition, Gamble, in a hangar in the empty building of the Bermondsey factory. Saatchi visited this exhibition: Friedman recalls standing with his mouth open in front of Hirst's installation called A Thousand Years, a visual demonstration of life and death. Saatchi purchased this creation and offered Hirst money to create future works.

Thus, with the money of Saatchi, in 1991, the “Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of the Living” was created, which is an aquarium with a tiger shark, the length of which reached 4.3 meters. The work cost Saatchi £50,000. The shark was caught by an authorized fisherman in Australia and was valued at £6,000. As a result, Hirst was nominated for the Turner Prize, which was awarded to Greenville Davey. The shark itself was sold in December 2004 to collector Steve Cohen for $12m (£6.5m).

Hirst's first international recognition came to the artist in 1993 at the Venice Biennale. His work "Separated mother and child" was the parts of a cow and a calf placed in separate aquariums with formaldehyde. In 1997, the artist's autobiography "I Want To Spend the Rest of My Life Everywhere, with Everyone, One to One, Always, Forever, Now" was published.

Hirst's latest project, which has made a lot of noise, is a life-size depiction of a human skull; the skull itself is copied from that of a European about 35 years of age who died sometime between 1720 and 1910; real teeth in the skull. The creation is encrusted with 8601 industrial diamonds with a total weight of 1100 carats; they cover it completely, like a pavement. In the center of the forehead of the skull is a large 52.4 carat standard brilliant cut pale pink diamond.

The sculpture is called For the Love of the Lord and is the most expensive sculpture by a living artist - £50 million.

CREATION

Death is a central theme in his work.

The artist's most famous series is Natural History: dead animals (including a shark, a sheep and a cow) in formaldehyde. Signature work - "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" (eng. The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living): a tiger shark in an aquarium with formaldehyde. This work has become a symbol of the graphic work of British art in the 1990s and a symbol of Britart throughout the world.

Unlike sculptures and installations, which practically do not deviate from the theme of death, Damien Hirst's painting at first glance looks cheerful, elegant and life-affirming. The main painting series of the artist are:

"Spots"- Spot paintings (1988 - until today) - a geometric abstraction of colored circles, usually of the same size, not repeating in color and arranged in a grid. Some jobs do not follow these rules. The scientific names of various toxic, narcotic or stimulating substances are taken as names for most of the works in this series: Aprotinin, Butyrophenone, Ceftriaxone, Diamorphine, Ergocalciferol, Minoxidil, Oxalacetic Acid, Vitamin C", "Zomepirac" and the like.

"Rotations"- Spin paintings (1992 - until today) - painting in the genre of abstract expressionism. In the production of this series, the artist or his assistants pour or drip paint onto a rotating canvas.

"Butterflies"- Butterfly Color Paintings (1994-2008) - abstract assemblage. The paintings are created by gluing dead butterflies onto freshly painted canvas (no glue is used, the butterflies stick to the uncured paint themselves). At the same time, the canvas is evenly painted over with one color, and the butterflies used have a complex, bright color.

"Kaleidoscopes"- Kaleidoscope Paintings (2001-2008) - here, using butterflies stuck close to each other, the artist creates symmetrical patterns similar to kaleidoscope patterns.

It's Great to Be Alive, 2002

Despite the fact that museums sometimes decorate their children's corners with paintings with Damien Hirst butterflies, butterflies in the artist's work quite definitely play the role of symbols of death.

Butterflies are one of the central objects for expressing Hirst's work, he uses them in all possible forms: depiction in paintings, photographs, installations. So he used for one of his installations “Fall in love and out of love” (In and Out of Love), held at the Tate Modern from April to September 2012 in London, 9,000 live butterflies, which gradually died during this event. After this incident, representatives of the charity fund for the protection of animals RSPCA subjected the artist to severe criticism.

In September 2008, Hirst sold the complete Beautiful Inside My Head Forever at Sotheby's for £111 million ($198 million), breaking the record for a single-artist auction.

The Sunday Times estimates that Hirst is the richest living artist in the world - in 2010 his net worth was estimated at £215 million. At the beginning of his career, Damien worked closely with the famous collector Charles Saatchi, but the growing differences led to a break in 2003.

In 2011, Hirst designed the cover art for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' album I'm with you.

In 2007, For the Love of the Lord (a platinum skull encrusted with diamonds) was sold through the White Cube Gallery to a group of investors for a record $100 million for living artists. investors "more than 70% of the assets belong to Hurst himself and his associates. So this work was sold by no more than a third.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Tomkins K. "Biographies of Artists". - M.: V-A-C press, 2013

When writing this article, materials from such sites were used:en.wikipedia.org ,

If you find any inaccuracies or wish to supplement this article, please send us information to the email address [email protected] site, we and our readers will be very grateful to you.

There is an opinion that an artist can be either extremely rich or extremely poor. This can be applied to the person that will be discussed in this article. His name is - and he is one of the richest living artists.

According to the Sunday Times, according to their estimates, this artist was the richest in the world in 2010, and his fortune was estimated at 215 million pounds.

The work of Damien Hirst

In contemporary art, this man takes the role of "the face of death." This is partly due to the fact that he uses materials that are not used to being used to create works of art. Among them, it is worth noting paintings of dead insects, parts of dead animals in formaldehyde, a skull with real teeth, etc.

His works evoke shock, disgust and delight in people at the same time. For this, collectors from all over the world are ready to give a huge amount of money.

The artist was born in 1965 in a city called Bristol. His father was a mechanic and left the family when his son was 12 years old. Damian's mother worked in a consulting office and was an amateur artist.

The future "face of death" in contemporary art led an asocial lifestyle. He was arrested twice for shoplifting. But despite this, the young creator studied at the School of Art in Leeds, and then entered the London College called Goldsmith College.

This institution was somewhat innovative. The difference from others was that other schools simply accepted students who did not have the skills to enter a real college, and Goldsmiths College gathered a lot of talented students and teachers. They had their own program, for which you did not need to be able to draw. Recently, this form of training has only gained popularity.

As a student, he liked to visit the morgue and make sketches there. This place laid the foundation for his future themes of works.

From 1990 to 2000, Damien Hirst had problems with drugs and alcohol. During this time, he managed to commit many different antics while in a state of intoxication.

Artist career ladder

Hirst was interested in the public for the first time at an exhibition called "Freeze", which was held in 1988. At this exhibition, Charles Saatchi drew attention to the work of this artist. This man was a famous tycoon, but he was also an avid art lover and a collector of art. The collector purchased two of Hirst's works within a year. After that, Saatchi frequently purchased art from Damien. You can count about 50 works that were bought by this person.

Already in 1991, the aforementioned artist decided to hold his own exhibition, which was called In and Out of Love. He did not stop there and held several more exhibitions, one of which was held in

In the same year, his most famous work was produced, it was called "The physical impossibility of death in the mind of the living." It was created at the expense of Saatchi. The work done by Damien Hirst, the photo of which is a little lower, was a container with a large one that was immersed in formaldehyde.

In the photo it may seem that the shark is rather small in length, but in fact it was 4.3 meters.

Scandals

In 1994, at an exhibition curated by Damien Hirst, there was a scandal with an artist named Mark Bridger. This incident happened because of one of the works called "Strangled from the herd", which is a sheep immersed in formaldehyde.

Mark came to an exhibition where this work of art was being shown and in one motion poured a can of ink into a container and proclaimed the new name of this work - "Black Sheep". Damien Hirst sued him for an act of vandalism. At the trial, Mark tried to explain to the jury that he just wanted to complement Hirst's work, but the court did not understand him and found him guilty. He could not pay the fine, because at that time he was in poor condition, so he was given only 2 years of probation. Some time later, he created his own Black Sheep.

Damien's credits

In 1995, a significant date happened in the life of the artist - he was nominated for the Turner Prize. The work entitled "separated mother and child" served to ensure that Damien Hirst became the laureate of this award. The artist combined 2 containers in this work. In one of them there was a cow in formaldehyde, and in the second a calf.

Last "loud" work

The latest work that caused a stir is Damien Hirst, who spent quite a lot of money on it. The work, the photo of which already shows all its high cost, Damien Hirst has not yet had.

The title of this installation is "For the Love of God". It represents a human skull, which is covered with diamonds. 8601 diamonds were used for this creation. The total size of the stones is 1100 carats. This sculpture is the most expensive of all existing by the artist. Its price is 50 million pounds. After that, he cast a new skull. This time it was the skull of a baby, which was called "For God's sake". The material used was platinum and diamonds.

In 2009, after Damian Hirst held his exhibition "Requiem", which caused a storm of discontent from critics, he announced that he was done with installations and would continue to do ordinary painting again.

Outlook on life

Based on the interview, the artist calls himself a punk. He says that he is afraid of death, because real death is truly terrible. According to him, it is not death that sells well, but only the fear of death. His views on religion are skeptical.

Damien Hirst(Eng. Damien Hirst, b. June 7, 1965) is a contemporary English artist. One of the most prominent members of the Young British Artists group. 1995 Turner Prize winner. 2010 estimates - richest artist in the world.

Biography and creativity

Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol (England). Grew up in Leeds. His father left the family when Hearst was 12 years old, and his mother was unable to control her son. In his youth, he was arrested twice for shoplifting.

He studied at the art school in Leeds and then (after a two-year pause) at Goldsmith College (1986-1989), which at that time was considered innovative and offered an experimental curriculum, which attracted many talented students and teachers there. At this time, he was very fond of the work of Francis Bacon, which was reflected in his future works. Even before graduation, in July 1988 he curated the exhibition Freeze where, among others, his own installations were presented. It should be noted that this exhibition itself was in many ways a project of the 23-year-old Hirst and marked the beginning of both his own career and the careers of a number of other artists, many of whom were also Goldsmith alumni. Here Hirst was first noticed by the millionaire and art collector Charles Saatchi, who was greatly impressed by the artist's work. A year later, at Hirst's second exhibition, he bought his work "A Thousand Years" and offered financial assistance in the creation of future works.

installation "A thousand years" was a kind of system illustrating such global processes as life and death. The theme of death - Hirst's key theme - already occupies a dominant position in this work. The installation consisted of a container of fly eggs, a rotting cow's head, and an electric fly swatter. The eggs hatched into larvae, crawled to the food (cow's head), turned into flies and died when they came into contact with the fly swatter. Over time, the installation changed - the head became smaller, and there were more and more corpses of flies, and the viewer, coming to the exhibition again, saw the entire process described above in dynamics, observing not only the life path of the flies, but also the result of this process.

With money from Saatchi, Hirst created a work called "The physical impossibility of death in the mind of the living". This work was a dead four-meter shark in formaldehyde. She laid the foundation for a number of similar installations, one of which - "Separated mother and child"(literally from English. “Mother and child. Divided») - was presented at the Venice Biennale and brought Hirst international fame. Here the viewer sees creatures “frozen in death”, something frightening and repulsive, something that is no longer alive, but still retains its easily recognizable appearance. So, for example, in front of the conditional viewer of the installation “Physical Impossibility…” there is no shark, it has already died and only its shell remains. But the “dead” is perceived by the viewer only as “inanimate”. He sees the "former living", interpreting the new object through the prism of what it once was, and not guided by what it is now.

The theme of death, which sometimes turns into the theme of the transience of life, runs like a red thread through all the work of Damien Hirst. In 2007 he creates a work called "For the love of the Lord!", which is sometimes called "The Diamond Skull of Damien Hirst" and who became known as most expensive piece of art living author. This work itself is a copy of the skull of a European 35 years old, made of platinum and fully encrusted with diamonds. In the center of the forehead of the skull is a pink diamond. The creation of this work cost Hirst 14 million pounds.

Despite the conceptual foundations of Hirst's works, it is difficult to deny the deliberately scandalous nature of many of the artist's works. Following dead animals in formaldehyde and the most expensive work of art in the world, we should mention the installation "In and Out of Love" or in this case "Inside and Outside Love"). Dolls were attached to canvases on the walls, from which butterflies appeared. Entering the room, the spectators found themselves among these insects that flew around them, landing both on the spectators themselves and on fruit containers placed in the same room. The exhibition was held at the Tate Modern gallery and lasted 5 months. During this time, she attracted more than 460,000 visitors and became the most visited solo exhibition in the history of the gallery. Later, information appeared that 9,000 butterflies had died during the exhibition, and this caused protests from a number of environmental organizations.

Damien Hirst's painting can be classified as geometric abstract art (example: series Spot paintings) and (example: series Spin paintings)). The "Spots" series consists of paintings depicting circles of the same size but different colors (the color never repeats) arranged in a lattice pattern. The Rotations series consists of paintings that were created by pouring paint onto a rotating canvas. Hirst is also the author of a number of paintings that bring us back to the topic of butterflies: the Butterfly Color Paintings series consists of works where dead butterflies are attached to the paint that has not yet dried, which become the basis of the composition.

A statue of a headless demon 16.5 meters high fills the atrium of Palazzo Grassi

For the first time in history, both Venetian exhibition spaces of the collector François Pinault are given over to one exposition. And they were occupied by none other than Damien Hirst, one of the most famous artists of our time. The details of the exposition were kept secret until the very opening: it was only known that the author had been preparing a new project for the past 10 years.

Damien Hirst, "Hydra and Kali" (two versions) and "Hydra and Kali underwater (underwater photography by Christoph Gehrigk)". Photo: rudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

On Sunday, April 9, the public finally got the opportunity to get to the Venice exhibition of Briton Damien Hirst. Exhibits for her he created under the cloak of secrecy over the past decade.

"Kronos Devouring His Children"
Photo: Andrea Merola / ANSA / AP / Scanpix / LETA

“Treasures from the crash site of the Incredible are located in both palaces of the Pino Foundation - in Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. This is the first time in history that both centers have given space to the same artist.

The exhibition is presented as a multi-layered labyrinth of treasures from a ship that sank 2,000 years ago and was only discovered in 2008 (coincidentally, this is the year of the previous peak of Hirst's career).

Damien Hirst, "Hydra and Kali" (detail). Photo: Andrea Merola / AP

Damien Hirst

51-year-old Damien Hirst is considered the richest living artist in the world. He is also the most prominent representative of the Young British Artists (Britart) group, which has dominated the art of Foggy Albion for the last quarter of a century.

Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of the Living (1991), depicting a tiger shark in a formaldehyde tank, is emblematic of this union.

Treasures of the Wreck of the Incredible: Damien Hirst Exhibition at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana Contemporary Art Center, Venice. Photo: Damien Hirst and Science Ltd

“Treasures from the crash site of the Incredible is a multi-layered labyrinth of sculptures, historical objects, photographs and video footage of the “discovery” and “rescue” of a priceless cargo.

"Two Garudas"

According to legend, the ship sank off the coast of East Africa.

"Demon with a cup"
Photo: Andrea Merola / EPA / Scanpix / LETA

On board was an extensive art collection belonging to a freed slave named Sif Amotan II.

The collection included artifacts from every civilization known at that time and was sent to the museum island, where it was supposed to be on display. The ship sank, and all its valuables rested serenely in the depths of the sea until 2008. Now these treasures are before us.

Damien Hirst, "Five naked Greek women", "Five antique torsos", "Naked Greek woman" (three versions).

Each exhibit at the exhibition is made in triplicate. In the first version, it looks like a treasure raised from the seabed ("Coral" in Hirst's language); in the second - as a salvaged relic, restored by modern restorers ("Treasure"); and in the third, as a reproduction of a pseudo-historical object ("Copy").

Damien Hirst, "Cyclops' skull" and "Divers studying Cyclops' skull (underwater photography)".
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

Damient Hirst, The Skull of the Cyclops.
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd

Damien Hirst, View of Katya Ishtar Yo-landi.
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

There are huge bronze warrior goddesses, marble busts and skulls of the Cyclopes, prayer figurines, tombs, tables, urns, display cases with shields, precious jewelry and coins.

Sculpture at the exhibition "Treasures of the sunken ship "Incredible"
Photo: Awakening/Getty Images

Hirst used a variety of expensive materials - malachite, gold, lapis and jade - to create a museum collection of artifacts that evoke memories of the ancient world.

Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

Damien Hirst, The Severed Head of Medusa.
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

Damien Hirst, Sorrow.
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

To enhance the plausibility, many of the works are decorated with white worms and "corals" of incredible colors. The theme of the shipwreck is complemented by large-format photographs and very believable video footage of divers working off the coast of the Zanzibar archipelago.

According to Artnet.com, special rescue ships have been hired to lower the giant bronze statues to the bottom of the Indian Ocean and then pick them up.

Damien Hirst, Hydra and Kali Discovered by Four Divers.
Photo: Christoph Gerigk © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

Damien Hirst, Stone Calendar.
Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP / Getty Images

Damien Hirst, The Unknown Pharaoh (detail). The model for this work was clearly the American singer, rapper, producer, musician and fashion designer Pharrell Williams. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

It is worth noting that in all this carefully designed entourage, the faces of musician Pharrell Williams, model Kate Moss, singers Rihanna and Yolandi Fisser flicker...

Bust of Tadukheppa, the younger wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III
Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP / Scanpix / LETA

Not to mention the Mickey Mouse statue at Punta della Dogana. Damien Hirst himself appears in the bronze work "Bust of the Collector Sif Amotan II", hinting that he is not only a creator, but also a collector of works of art.

Damien Hirst, "Sphinx" (option "Coral"); below - Damien Hirst, "Sphinx" (variant "Treasure").
Both photos: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

According to The New York Times, major dealers such as the Gagosian Gallery or the White Cube have already bought some of the works at prices ranging from $500,000 to $5 million per copy. However, like most of the facts at the exhibition, this information is hidden under the cover of secrecy.

Damien Hirst, Proteus.
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

Damien Hirst, Jade Buddha.
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

Damien Hirst's exhibition "Treasures from the Wreck of the Incredible" will be one of the central events of the Venice Biennale and will last until December 3, 2017.

Damien Hirst, Remains of Apollo.
Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.