ALRIWAQ, Qatar Museums Authority, Doha, Qatar – 10 October, 2013 – 22 January, 2014
The largest retrospective survey of Damien Hirst’s work ever to be assembled is on display at Qatar Museums Authority, Doha (10 October 2013 – 22 January 2014). Spanning over 27 years of Hirst’s iconic career, ‘Relics’ is the artist’s first solo show in the Middle East and will be shown at ALRIWAQ DOHA exhibition space.
The comprehensive exhibition will include both famously iconic, and previously unseen artworks. Explaining, ‘art’s about life and it can’t really be about anything else … there isn’t anything else,’ Hirst’s work investigates and challenges contemporary belief systems, and dissects the tensions and uncertainties at the heart of human experience. ‘Relics’ will include pieces from a cross-section of Hirst’s most important series including the Spot Paintings and the Natural History series of animals preserved in formaldehyde. Also on display will be one of the most iconic and widely recognised artworks to have emerged in the past decade; the diamond encrusted skull, ‘For the Love of God’ (2007). The exhibition follows in the footsteps of Hirst’s major retrospective at Tate Modern in 2012, which became the most visited solo exhibition in the gallery’s history.
Curated by the internationally renowned writer, critic and curator, Francesco Bonami, ‘Relics’ is part of a series of cultural initiatives organised by QMA in order to foster discussions and cultural exchange between the UK and Qatar. It forms part of Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture which celebrates and showcases the deep-rooted bilateral relations between Qatar and the UK.
For more information, please visit: www.damienhirstqatar.qa/en