mat ([info]coagula) wrote,
@ 2007-02-20 01:31:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend  Next Entry
Damien Hirst, THIEF?
Over the years, a lot of artists have contacted me and my magazine with a claim that their work has been poached by other artists.

Comparing two works of art by different artists is often difficult to tell, and the eccentric personalities of artists usually make me shy away from reporting on these stories, as they are fraught with personal feelings and conflicting dates, intentions, etc.; plus there is always that endless need for validation and recognition along with the occasional palpable desire for revenge that is never going to be satiated in the lifetime of the average artist.

But look AT THIS or EVEN THIS from THIS WEBSITE of L.A. artist Lori Precious...

and compare them to the new work by Damien Hirst
(or more properly credited to Hirst's assembly line of studio assistants)
to be show at Gagosian Galelry in Beverly Hills on thursday:
L I N K -to- P I C.

Looks pretty bad to me, as Precious has shown around widely for years, especially at art fairs where the whole idea could be picked up and re-purposed... on puropose!


(13 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]sipperphoto
2007-02-20 05:08 pm UTC (link)
Those look pretty similiar to me. Probably too similiar.

(Reply to this)


[info]puplet_loaf
2007-02-20 05:37 pm UTC (link)
whoa dude. spooky.

(Reply to this)

Lori Precious
(Anonymous)
2007-02-20 06:08 pm UTC (link)
Lori Precious deserves the credit for her amazing and original artwork. She's been showing this type of artwork since 1994. Damien Hirst and Gagosian have to answer to this. The art world must defend and champion people such as Lori who toil for the love of their art in relative obscurity. It's difficult to believe that Mr. Hirst came up with the same idea, using the same materials, with the exact same result without seeing Lori's work. Shame on Mr. Hirst!

(Reply to this)

Maybe they both visited Paris?
(Anonymous)
2007-02-20 07:10 pm UTC (link)
Both have a long way to go to catch up with the artisan assembly lines of Notre Dame

http://tinyurl.com/35cesa

(Reply to this)

Lori Precious has been ripped by Damen Hurst
(Anonymous)
2007-02-20 08:44 pm UTC (link)
I have known the artist Lori Precious for 14 years and I own several of her "original" pieces. I am appalled by this blatant ripoff by Mr.Hirst. Ms. Precious work is creative, original and inspiring...the opposite of Damien Hirst. I would love for him to explain his actions.

(Reply to this)


[info]pussinbootz
2007-02-20 08:47 pm UTC (link)
Let me guess, this is NOT appropriation!

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2007-02-20 09:05 pm UTC (link)
If our world spins with some decency, thievery will soon be Damien Hirst's legacy and the absolute integrity, originality and beauty of Lori Precious's art will prevail by continuing to shine even more than it already has for years.

(Reply to this)

Hirst Rip Off Artist
(Anonymous)
2007-02-20 11:19 pm UTC (link)
Hirst's theft of Lori Precious'brainchild is an outrage! I will be disgusted (but not shocked)if such a blatant rip off goes unanswered. I am contacting every art publication I can think of to expose this travesty. I hope others do the same. Hirst's name should be changed to Heist! What a loser.

(Reply to this)


[info]artworkslive
2007-02-21 01:26 am UTC (link)
imitation iS the sincerest form of fuckery..

(Reply to this) (Thread)
...
[info]coagula
2007-02-21 01:38 am UTC (link)
brilliant.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
LORI PRECIOUS VS DAMIEN HIRST
[info]lori_precious
2007-02-22 04:43 am UTC (link)
This is Lori Precious, the artist who originated the idea of doing stained-glass windows
out of butterfly wings. Thank you for your piece about my work and Mr. Hirst's.

I have spent literally thousands of hours in my studio over the last fifteen years creating
this series. This unusual medium and how I apply it is how I've defined myself artistically.
It's my life's work.

There are two questions people usually ask when they see my work:

1. Where do you get your butterflies?

The answer is that I use two licensed entomologists.

Because of how unusual the idea is, they then ask:

2. How did you come up with this idea?

The idea came to me in 1992, after years of photographing stained-glass windows and also
of collecting butterflies. I was on a trip to Paris visiting churches and cathedrals, and I was in
the St. Chapelle Catherdral and it was there I had a vision of the windows done entirely in butterfly
wings. As Bob Dylan once said, it didn't come to me, it seemed to come through me. It was that
powerful an inspiration. In my first piece (the one now owned by the Orange County Museum),
I used figurative imagery, but quickly moved to recreating the rose-window mandalas without the
religious figures.

I suppose next to the pieces Hirst has done, mine look deceptively simple, but they are not. Unlike
Hirst's, my pieces are made ENTIRELY of butterflies; there is NO paint used, or any other material
whatsoever. My work is done entirely by my own hand; the first piece of mine shown on your site
took me more than two years. The last two pieces shown on your site were the first I created and
therefore not as refined as later work. I don't use the butterfly whole, which would be fairly easy
and fast (especially with twenty-five assistants); instead I carefully create a pattern and, using an
intricate process, cut the shape from the wing and inset that into the piece. I treat the wings with
great respect and care.

I do not do larger pieces, in part out of concern--perhaps unfounded--about depleting the number
of any one species. I also might add that my work will last many lifetimes, as they have been created
to be entirely archival and airtight. As any entomologist will tell you, if a wing is not protected by an
airtight enclosure that's been fumigated, the wings will quickly begin to deteriorate, being eaten by
microscopic bugs. Hirst states in the recent LA TImes article that his wings are protected because they
were frozen. In fact, the wings are only protected for as long as the piece is frozen, but if the piece is
not immediately put into an airtight enclosure, the wings attract mites once again. It isn't clear from the
photos whether his pieces are sealed under glass or plex.

You say that your guess is that Hirst's ouevre will outshine mine, and maybe you're right. I sincerely hope
you're wrong. I would like to believe that history has a way of righting wrongs, and that sometimes originality wins out over celebrity.

I have now almost completed a new series that I consider a progression from my signature series. I am
re-creating, entirely out of butterfly wings, the obituary photographs of women who used to be starlets.
Just please don't tell Damien Hirst.

Thank you again for your time and attention,

Lori Precious

(Reply to this)

An Open and Shut Case!
(Anonymous)
2007-02-22 09:43 pm UTC (link)
The case is open and shut, sadly--I was hoping for a good fight. Artists, like other creative types, often have similar ideas at the same time. Witness the yearly line-up of films, books and television shows that get released and experience more uncanny 'coincidences' than you might think possible. Sorry folks, but that is the way of the world.

The controversy will continue, regardless, and while a less generous critic might congratulate Ms. Precious on her ability to coordinate a publicity stunt that will certainly gain her more fans than ever, I actually think she honestly feels she has been wronged. That is regrettable (particularly for a fellow Art Center alumni).

More thoughts HERE:http://bigfigdesign.typepad.com/life_by_design/2007/02/damien_hirst_v_.html

(Reply to this)

Damien Hirst Spat
(Anonymous)
2007-02-23 06:32 am UTC (link)
Mat, it seems I have led some readers to believe that you side with Hirst on this one by exerpting a qoute from your blog.

"Comparing two works of art by different artists is often difficult to tell, and the eccentric personalities of artists usually make me shy away from reporting on these stories, as they are fraught with personal feelings and conflicting dates, intentions, etc.; plus there is always that endless need for validation and recognition along with the occasional palpable desire for revenge that is never going to be satiated in the lifetime of the average artist."

I thought it well written, and included it, with link, on my blog. Only I did not originally say you had your own suspisions.

This I have corrected. I apologize to you and any of your readers for this mistake.

-Daniel

(Reply to this)

(13 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…