DAMIEN HIRST, SIX PILLS (LARGE), SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 75, 2005
Six Pills (large) is a screen print from 2005 by Damien Hirst. The work shows six large pills on display in a mirrored medical cabinet across two shelves, each hand painted and varying in colour and size. Upon first impression, Six Pills (large) is sterile in its aesthetic, but like many of Hirst’s works it brings profound questions of the human condition into play.
Hirst has explained why he is interested in the medical pill motif commenting, “Pills are a brilliant little form, better than any minimalist art. They’re all designed to make you buy them…they come out of flowers, plants, things from the ground, and they make you feel good, you know, to just have a pill, to feel beauty.”
Reminiscent of his famous sculpture from 2008 Memories of/Moments with You, Hirst brings themes of life and death into dialogue with one another, disrupting strict boundaries between sickness and health, and addiction and rehabilitation. In Memories of/Moments with You, the pills appeared as little sculptures in themselves, rather than mass produced objects, due to their hand crafted and hand painted form that reveals the artist’s touch. Inspired by minimalism of the 1960s, Hirst’s pill cabinets recall the work of American sculptor Donald Judd in their incessant repetition and use of colour.
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ABOUT DAMIEN HIRST
Arguably one the most successful and well-known artists in the world to date, Damien Hirst is a creative visionary, his brand as prolific as his artwork. Exhibited internationally, he works across sculpture, painting, drawing or installation to create artworks that are characterised by their intensity and tension. Taking inspiration from a range of sources, including Abstract Expressionists John Hoyland and Willem de Kooning, he has cultivated a style recognisable for its brash monumentalism and unapologetic gall. Learn more about Damien Hirst.
