The impulses driving Damien Hirst's work stem from dilemmas inherent in human life: 'I am aware of mental contradictions in everything, like: I am going to die and I want to live for ever. I can't escape the fact and I can't let go of the desire'. The materials he uses often shock, but he says he 'uses shock almost as a formal element . not so much to thrust his work in the public eye . but rather to make aspects of life and death visible.
Damien Hirst was born in Bristol, England in 1965 and attended Goldsmiths College from 1986 to 1989. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1992, and won the award when he was nominated again in 1995. His works were selected on the basis of his exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Saatchi Gallery, and his touring show which opened at the Serpentine Gallery.
This information has been taken from The Turner Prize: Twenty Years, by Virginia Button, Tate Publishing, 2003.
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