Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst (United Kingdom, 1965) is an artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He earned a diploma in Foundations of Art and Design from Leeds College of Art and studied Fine Arts at Goldsmiths University in London. He works in sculpture, painting, and drawing.

A member of the Young British Artists (YBAs), his conceptual work addresses death, life, religion, beauty, and science. His works include spin paintings, spot paintings, and the series *The Medicine Cabinets* and *Natural History*, which consists of animals preserved in formaldehyde inside steel and glass containers.

He organized the Freeze exhibition in 1988, participated in the Young British Artists exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in 1992, and won the Turner Prize in 1995. The National Archaeological Museum of Naples and the Tate Modern presented retrospectives of his work in 2004 and 2012, respectively. His works are part of the collections of the Tate Modern in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the Punta della Dogana / Palazzo Grassi (Pinault Collection) in Venice.