The exhibited works were grouped into four sections: photogravure prints of skulls and butterflies, Spirograph style drawings, spot paintings (multi-coloured circles) and pictures of medicine packaging modified to represent food, rather than tablets, as the contents. It was the latter display that caught our attention the most.
The thirteen prints of food packaged as medicine, collectively known as "The Last Supper", are intended to question the relative importance of drugs and food and whether people in the modern world can survive without both of these. The prints were cleverly presented using drug company packaging with the ingredients changed to items of food and the brands replaced by variations on Hirst's name.
We laughed at the idea of food as medicine: imagine popping a small pink capsule of sausage or having steak and kidney pie fed intravenously! We also wondered about the Science Fiction connection and the rehydrated food used by astronauts on space flights. We decided that we preferred the tastier and healthier option of preparing and eating natural food - the colours, tastes and smells that bring so much pleasure to life.
As we wandered round the other galleries, we were reminded that food has been a popular subject in fine art over the centuries. An oil painting by Henri Fantin-Latour with fruits and flowers looked so tasty we wished we could eat them (the fruits that is, not the flowers). Damien Hirst has brought this tradition of food in art into the 21st Century with familiar commercial packaging and a pop art style to give us plenty of food for thought (sorry!).
By now we were getting hungry and headed downstairs to the cafe. We were relieved to find that there were no fish and chip pills or dumpling suppositories on the menu and enjoyed a nice cup of Yorkshire Tea instead.
The "Damien Hirst: Print Maker" exhibition runs until 27th February 2011. More details are on the Bowes Museum web site.
Vicky and Vince,
Love Your Art
No comments:
Post a Comment