The Cure (peach cream, ultramarine, lust)
The Cure (peach cream, ultramarine, lust)
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
Screenprint, 2014
Signed Print Edition of 15
H 72cm x W 51cm
Critical Review
The Cure (peach cream, ultramarine, lust) is a silkscreen print by Damien Hirst on Somerset Tub. The print was produced in 2014 and shows a two-colour pill, rendered by Hirst in dark, ultramarine blue and lust red against a peach cream backdrop. The dark colours of the pill contrast with the light and pale background colour, meaning the viewer’s attention is focussed on the pill in the centre of the composition.
The Cure (peach cream, ultramarine, lust) is one of thirty silkscreen prints that compose Hirst’s The Cure series. In this series, Hirst renders a singular pill in a combination of two colour tones against a bold and vibrant coloured backdrop. The series is inspired by the important role medicine plays in 21st century society, with Hirst likening it to religion and even calling medicine a contemporary belief system.
Hirst has a longstanding interest in medicine and pharmaceutical products, which ties into themes of life and death, medicine and myth which are frequently explored in his other artworks. The Cure (peach cream, ultramarine, lust) reflects Hirst’s fascination with modern society’s obsession with science, modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. By making a pharmaceutical product into art, Hirst blurs the boundaries between art and science in this print, demanding that we appreciate the art behind science.
