Damien Hirst is by far the richest British contemporary artist. He has created artworks that have cost millions of dollars to create. His most expensive work “For the Love of God†is a case in point. It is basically a human skull crafted out of platinum and then covered with 8,601 diamonds. Hirst claimed that the particular piece cost as much as $23.6 million to create. At the same time he believes that you cannot price an artwork by simply adding up the cost of material that has gone into its creation and then add up a markup. And at the same time there are many critics who believe that the prices of Hirsts work are not justifiable and will drop dramatically sooner or later. In fact they even advise the collectors holding Hirst’s works to sell them as soon as they can to safe guard their investment. However Damien Hirst has had a very successful year. The exhibition of his spot paintings at the venerable Gagosian Galleries was on international view and was considered highly successful as it received the appreciation of one and all, including critics, collectors and art lovers.
A full retrospective of Damien Hirst’s work opened last week on 4th of April at the Tate Modern, London. The reach of his works is going to increase manifold as Manifold Editions will simultaneously unveil never-before-seen woodcuts of his spots for unprecedented value. One has to admit that while art critics can debate the artistic and creative genius of Damien Hirst you have to appreciate his marketing skills that optimize the revenue by making his work available through different channels. It was in 2007, when the art market was at its peak, that he had created the For the Love of God.
The New York Times had covered the piece prominently and called it “The most expensive new work of art ever made.†It helped him in creating an image for himself of the creator of most exorbitantly priced art works. And now that he is well established and is able to sell his work for unprecedented prices he wants to reach those who have been unable to afford his work. Damien Hirst has created certain editions which are inspired by his successful spot series and have been priced in such a way that they become accessible to a wider audience and practically all levels of collectors. There are also Damien Hirst Skateboards that feature his paintings.  His spot series was first introduced way back in 1988 at the Freeze exhibition in London. It was an instant success and since then spot paintings, drawings and prints have become the main strand of his artistic output. Hirst claims that he loves color and that his spot paintings are the expression of the joy of color.
Now Manifold Editions will exhibit new works by Hirst at the Affordable Art Fair as its New York City and US debut. James Booth-Clibborn, the founder of ManifoldEditions.com is excited about their first appearance in US and is proud to be associated with the popular British artist. Founded in 2011, Manifold Editions has expanded very rapidly and made it simpler to acquire exceptional works by acclaimed contemporary artists at an affordable cost. There are over 130 works on the site at the moment and if you wish to buy anyone of them it would be delivered at your door by an international courier.
