There is no doubt about it, Damien Hirst is by far and away my favourite contemporary British artist to have cut a cow in two and float it in a tank of formaldehyde (see ‘Mother & Child divided’).
If truth be told I don’t really have an encyclopedic knowledge of art, my knowledge could probably be summed up on a small pamphlet, but I do know that the good ‘ole US has had its fair share of revered painters.
There’s that guy who did prints of Marilyn Monroe and soup cans, the one who dribbled paint onto canvass in random patterns and the one who depicted his mum in a rocking chair….oh and someone else did a painting of a man with a pitchfork.
Compare these to an ornate countryside scene by Constable, one of Turner’s roaring seascapes or an original Banksy and I think you’ll agree that we British have the edge.
Damien Hirst was the 95th most popular suggestion out of the several thousand names that were voted for by the GB public on Facebook, and so makes the list and was thus sent a letter by the hero of our story, a.k.a me.
I recently received this reply from a delightful lady by the name of Amie who presumably acts as an organiser of Damien’s affairs and who I quote:
Dear Julian,
I hope this finds you well.
I am writing on behalf of Damien Hirst to thank you for requesting his signatures for your flags. Unfortunately, Damien is currently unable to offer his involvement. He is currently completely inundated with projects and charitable causes to which he gives huge amounts of time and energy, plus he is abroad a lot at the moment with various projects. He is consequently not taking on any new projects at present.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for thinking of Damien and wish you all the best with your interesting project,
Kind regards,
There you go, Damien and Amie find my project ‘interesting’, for which I am, in a manner of speaking, humbled.
I suppose I shall have to get a shift on sending out more of my letters, including to the five other artists on the list although tracking them down might not be that easy as David Hockney, I believe, lives in America, Chris Ofili, when he’s not hanging excrement onto gallery walls, is currently residing at an undisclosed location in the Caribbean and Banksy is a riddle wrapped inside an enigma enclosed in a bandana and hooded top and I've no idea who he is never mind how to write to him.
So I guess I’ll have to try Tracey Emin and Bridget Riley then.
If truth be told I don’t really have an encyclopedic knowledge of art, my knowledge could probably be summed up on a small pamphlet, but I do know that the good ‘ole US has had its fair share of revered painters.
There’s that guy who did prints of Marilyn Monroe and soup cans, the one who dribbled paint onto canvass in random patterns and the one who depicted his mum in a rocking chair….oh and someone else did a painting of a man with a pitchfork.
Compare these to an ornate countryside scene by Constable, one of Turner’s roaring seascapes or an original Banksy and I think you’ll agree that we British have the edge.
Damien Hirst was the 95th most popular suggestion out of the several thousand names that were voted for by the GB public on Facebook, and so makes the list and was thus sent a letter by the hero of our story, a.k.a me.
I recently received this reply from a delightful lady by the name of Amie who presumably acts as an organiser of Damien’s affairs and who I quote:
Dear Julian,
I hope this finds you well.
I am writing on behalf of Damien Hirst to thank you for requesting his signatures for your flags. Unfortunately, Damien is currently unable to offer his involvement. He is currently completely inundated with projects and charitable causes to which he gives huge amounts of time and energy, plus he is abroad a lot at the moment with various projects. He is consequently not taking on any new projects at present.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for thinking of Damien and wish you all the best with your interesting project,
Kind regards,
There you go, Damien and Amie find my project ‘interesting’, for which I am, in a manner of speaking, humbled.
I suppose I shall have to get a shift on sending out more of my letters, including to the five other artists on the list although tracking them down might not be that easy as David Hockney, I believe, lives in America, Chris Ofili, when he’s not hanging excrement onto gallery walls, is currently residing at an undisclosed location in the Caribbean and Banksy is a riddle wrapped inside an enigma enclosed in a bandana and hooded top and I've no idea who he is never mind how to write to him.
So I guess I’ll have to try Tracey Emin and Bridget Riley then.
