Damien Hirst’s Cosmos Paintings (2021) is a series of oil on canvas works that capture the mystery and anarchy of the universe. The paintings were inspired by Hirst’s interest in space, and particularly in the long-exposure images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
To create the works, Hirst affixed black canvases to his studio floor, before overlaying them with paint. These erratically applied, variously coloured layers evoke faraway celestial bodies. Hirst then added further paint using a variety of techniques. In places, Hirst sprays the paint capturing the hazy, radiant quality of distant galaxies. Elsewhere, richly textured piles of thick black paint suggest black holes. The physicality of Hirst’s painting consciously replicates the chaos and variety of the universe, creating abstract works the artist has described as ‘intergalactic carnage.’
Ranging in size from 30cm to over 3.5m, each of the 78 works is signed, titled, numbered and dated on the back. This artwork can be hung any way up.