Brit art superstar DAMIEN HIRST has built his career around a long-term shock and awe campaign that has catapulted him to the highest echelons of the modern art world. His latest offering, a diamond-encrusted human skull priced at $98,000,000 (£50 million) unveiled today in a grand preview at London’s WHITE CUBE GALLERY eclipses all of it.
The centerpiece of a new solo show “BEYOND BELIEF” spread between White Cube’s two London gallery spaces, Hirst’s skull, titled “For the Love of God,” sets a new record for contemporary art sales with its otherworldly pricetag (the work has not yet been purchased). Inspired by ancient turquoise-encrusted ceremonial Aztec skulls, Hirst had the platinum cast skull of a 35-year-old 18th century European male (the teeth are real) adorned with a reported 8,601 pave-set diamonds covering every visible surface of the object, inside and out. The focal point of the anatomical work is a massive $8,000,000 pear-shaped pink diamond which the artist named “The Skull Star Diamond,” set into the skull’s forehead, and surrounded by 14 smaller flawless white pear-shaped diamonds.
According to Hirst, the diamonds are all “ethically sourced” from conflict-free zones and cost the artist a whopping $28,000,000 USD (the work is entirely self-financed). The skull is missing one tooth which Hirst originally had replaced with a cast gold version, but later decided to leave it out after the 18 month-long process was completed. When asked at a press conference today about his motivation in creating the skull, Hirst explained “I hope it makes the people who see it feel good, that it’s uplifting, that it takes your breath away … I wouldn’t mind if it happened to my skull after my death.” He also joked that “It works much better than I imagined. I was slightly worried that we’d end up with an Ali G ring.”
Source for Report: Supertouch
