“Artist Damien Hirst has unveiled a diamond-encrusted human skull worth £50m – said to be the most expensive piece of contemporary art. The 18th Century skull is entirely covered in 8,601 jewels, while new teeth were made for the artwork at a cost of £14m.”
Hirst was inspired by an Aztec turquoise skull at the British Museum, and hopes that his work will eventually be displayed at the institution. Other Hirst works, also on display at the White Cube gallery in London, include a painting of his son’s birth by Caesarean section and a tiger shark cut in half and suspended in two tanks of formaldehyde.
The centre piece of his new solo exhibition “Beyond Belief” has a price tag of just £50million.
Not yet having experienced the piece up close I’m not passing judgement on the works at “Beyond Belief”. The skull bling however reminds me of this piece by Mauro Peruccchetti which featured in his Beaux Arts exhibition Blast!
OK so it’s crystals not diamonds and possibly not a real skull (series of 9) and it was a much more reasonable price, but until you have £14million to spend creating a peice of art you can’t expect to price art at £50million. However, ideas do come for free.
Check out Peruccchetti’s work of giant Jelly Babies and sweet looking hand grenades at the Beaux Arts site. Beyond Belief runs until the 7th July at both Hoxton Square and Mason’s Yard White Cubes. Viewing ‘For the Love of God’ at White Cube Mason’s Yard is restricted to ticket entry only. Tickets are available from White Cube Mason’s Yard on the day or book in advance from their website, to collect on the day.
