Beneficence
Beneficence
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
Screenprint, 2015
Signed Print Edition of 50
H 46cm x W 39cm
Critical Review
Beneficence is a signed silkscreen print with glaze produced by the contemporary British artist, Damien Hirst. The print, made in 2015, shows a meticulous arrangement of butterflies. Set against a bright pink backdrop, Hirst arranges a variety of butterflies in concentric circles. The print is full of colour, with yellow, blue, green and white dominating the composition and contrasting with the pink background.
The butterfly has become a staple part of Hirst’s visual language and iconography. Along with skulls and diamonds, the beautiful insect has become closely associated with the artist’s name and oeuvre. Hirst began using butterflies in his work as early as 1989, while he was studying Fine Art at Goldsmiths College. Hirst’s most iconic use of butterflies was arguably in 1991, when the artist produced a live installation of butterflies which emerged from pupae attached to white painted canvases kept in a humid exhibition room.
Beneficence is part of the Kaleidoscope series, an ambitious project started by Hirst in 2001, which was inspired by the intricate pattern of butterfly wings he saw on an old Victorian tea tray. The prints in the Kaleidoscope series all depict mesmerising patterns of concentric circles composed of colourful butterfly wings.
