Ribonucleic Acid

DAMIEN HIRST (B. 1965)

Ribonucleic Acid

signed, titled and dated 'Damien Hirst 2009 "Ribonucleic Acid"' (on the reverse)

household gloss on canvas

12 1/8 x 12 1/8 inches (30.8 x 30.8 cm)

Painted in 2009.

PROVENANCE:

Acquired from the artist by the present owner, 2016

LITERATURE:

J. Beard and M. Wilner (eds.), Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot Paintings, 1986-2011, London, 2013, p. 640 (illustrated).

"I went to one of the artist's earliest shows in NYC at Gagosian Gallery downtown - massive canvases of colored dots were everywhere, as well as his soon to be very popular "pill cabinets". My daughter and I coveted every piece."

-Martha Stewart

NOTES:

Born in Bristol in 1965, Damien Hirst is one of the most influential and controversial British artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He first rose to prominence in the late 1980s as a leading figure of the Young British Artists (YBAs), a group known for their provocative and concept-driven work. Hirst quickly became known for pushing boundaries in art, particularly his use of unusual materials like whole animals preserved in formaldehyde, pharmaceuticals, and surgical instruments. His fascination with death, desire, science, and belief systems has made him both a cultural lightning rod and a defining figure of contemporary art. 

Hirst’s Ribonucleic Acid exemplifies the artist’s enduring fascination with the intersection of science and aesthetics. This work continues Hirst’s universally known Spot Paintings series with striking restraint featuring only four perfectly circular spots in brown, pink, blue and yellow on a 12 x 12 inch canvas. Each hue seems carefully selected to evoke a clinical yet oddly playful tone, further underscored by the use of household gloss, which gives the surface a sterile, almost manufactured sheen. The painting’s title, referencing the essential molecule RNA, situates the work firmly within Hirst’s conceptual framework that explores life, death and the codes of existence. 

Despite its minimal composition, Ribonucleic Acid achieves a visual rhythm that reflects the systematic nature of scientific classification and replication. The evenly spaced spots suggest order and artificiality, mirroring how genetic material is often reduced to patterns and sequences in biological study. Rendered with the precision of a laboratory chart yet possessing a painter’s intuition for color, this piece encapsulates Hirst’s unique ability to translate complex scientific ideas into captivating visual language. As a smaller canvas in the series, Ribonucleic Acid invites intimate contemplation, allowing viewers to engage closely with the artist’s ongoing dialogue between art and science.

Since 1987, over 90 solo exhibitions have taken place for Hirst worldwide, and he has been included in over 300 group shows. His work features in major collections including the British Museum, London; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.;  Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Broad Collection, Los Angeles; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Fondazione Prada, Milan; and Museo Jumex, Mexico, among many others.