The Dead (silver gloss, chocolate)
The Dead (silver gloss, chocolate)
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
£3,850-£6,000
$8,000-$12,500 Value Indicator
$7,000-$11,000 Value Indicator
¥35,000-¥60,000 Value Indicator
€4,450-€7,000 Value Indicator
$40,000-$60,000 Value Indicator
¥770,000-¥1,190,000 Value Indicator
$5,000-$8,000 Value Indicator
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72 x 51cm, Edition of 15, Foil Block
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Meaning & Analysis
The Dead (silver gloss, chocolate) is a signed foil block print in colours on Arches paper produced by renowned contemporary artist, Damien Hirst. In this print, Hirst renders a skull in a shimmering silver gloss with dark chocolate colour shading. The skull floats in the centre of the composition against a plain white backdrop.
The print, made in 2009, is one of thirty-one prints that compose The Dead series. As indicated by the title of the series, death is the central theme that runs throughout the prints. The skull functions as a memento mori, a symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. Hirst attempts to use his art to explore questions of life and death, as well as other dualities such as desire and fear, love and loss, beauty and decay.
Hirst was fascinated by the way in which death was a taboo subject, something ‘unacceptable’ that people did not want to think or talk about. His use of the skull, a universally recognised symbol to represent death, reflects how he tackles the subject matter in a frank and direct manner, encouraging the viewer not to fear death but to embrace its inevitability.