Controversy over Damien Hirst suicide sculpture

Controversial new sculpture depicts Damien Hirst suicide

A Spanish artist has sparked controversy by exhibiting a sculpture of British artist Damien Hirst shooting himself in the head.

Eugenio Merino’s sculpture, complete with blood dripping off Hirst’s lip, was created as a comment on the British artist’s £50 million diamond-studded skull, For the Love of God. Merino has called his piece 4 the Love of Go(l)d, suggesting that the value of Hirst’s work would only be enhanced by his own death.

‘I thought that, given that he makes so much money, his next work could be that he shot himself. Like that the value of his work would increase dramatically,’ Merino told the Guardian. ‘Obviously, though, he would not be around to enjoy it. That is a metaphor for the current state of the art world.’

Merino’s work, displayed in a glass case like the ones Hirst is known for filling with formaldehyde and dead animals, has been on display at Madrid’s ARCO art fair.

Merino denied that he hated Hirst, and said that he was a great fan of his work. ‘I am a fan,’ he said, ‘I studied him at art school – I’m just adding my own little grain of sand.’

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