Damien Hirst’s Auction Gamble

With much news and controversy surrounding today’s opening of Damien Hirst’s massive auction Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, The Wall Street Journal offers a perspective on the massive undertaking. With millions of dollars at stake, the auction and its surrounding events have raised some interesting issues including how Hirst’s auction is anticipated to become the most expensive auction of artwork from any living artist ever, the decision to bypass galleries straight for an auction format and how such expensive art fits in the current economical landscape. Most notable was that the globally respected Australian art critic, Robert Hughes, last week referred to Hirst’s artwork in the sale as “absurd” and “tacky commodities.” This press event was notable in that it actually elicited a response from Hirst himself.

Source: Artdaily and SuperTouch.