Shark Spin Painting is a unique piece on vellum board by British artist Damien Hirst. Damien Hirst was born on June 7, 1965 in Bristol and grew up in Leeds. At the age of 16 he begins to make anatomy drawings in the anatomy department of the Leeds Medicine School. From 1986-1989 he studies at the renowned Goldsmith College in London, which completely changes his understanding of the classical techniques of painting, drawing, sculpture. Already in his student days he starts working on some of his most important series. The first works of “Medicine Cabinets” date from his second year at the college. In cabinets of different sizes, he collects and presents a series of medicines, which he displays as if in a showcase.

In 1988, together with other Goldsmith College students, he curated the exhibition “Freeze” in an empty warehouse, which is considered the birth of the Young British Artists. The series of “Spot Paintings” originated here, in which Hirst applied round, colored spots to the wall of the warehouse. These, too, will appear again and again in his work.

In 1991, he begins working on his most spectacular series – “Natural History.” He puts animals – sharks, sheep, cows – in formaldehyde in plain glass tanks, later he also cuts up some animals. With these works he is represented at the “Sensation” exhibition in 1997, which makes the “Young British Artists” known worldwide and at the same time causes an onslaught of indignation. The collector, artist dealer, and patron Charles Saatchi, whose collection comprises this exhibition, was one of the first and most important supporters of the Young British Artists. Hirst created another sensational work in 2007 with “For the Love of God” – a platinum cast of a skull set with 8601 diamonds. Love, death, religion and consumer culture are the relevant themes in his work, in the realization of which he breaks completely new ground and almost always provokes.

In 2002 he was a participant in the 50th Venice Biennale, and in 2012 the Tate Modern organized a comprehensive retrospective of his work. As early as 1995 he was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize.

In 2009, the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev hosted Damien Hirst retrospective “Requiem” with 100 works from the years 1990 – 2008. At the opening of the exhibition there was a “Spin Painting Workshop” in which every visitor could participate. Spin Paintings are created by applying paint to the support material and distributing it through rapid movement. Surprising, dynamic and abstract forms are created. On the one hand, they offer the artist the usual control over the choice of color as well as the carrier material and form, but on the other hand, the “composition” is completely arbitrary and beyond the influence of the painter.

Shark Spin Painting originates from this workshop. By the turning primarily a circle offers itself as carrier form, since in such a way the color can distribute itself most regularly. But only circles would be too boring for the Brit. Hirst’s fascination with sharks has been undeniable since his 1991 sculpture “The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living,” so it’s no surprise that he also uses the shark as a form for his Spin Paintings.

This series also runs through his entire oeuvre, and the “event character” involved in its creation is an important component. The majority of these works are created in Hirst’s studio, but he also frequently holds workshops, such as at the opening of the PinchukArtCentre or the Tate Modern, and thus actively involves visitors in the process of creation. This approach is strongly reminiscent of Andy Warhol, who already in the 1950s at his parties, let the guests color small drawings for cookbooks or Christmas cards and later, of course, on a larger scale also in the Factory.

“I really like making them. And I really like the machine, and I really like the movement. The movement sort of implies life. It’s the way the atoms move inside our bodies, it’s the way the planet moves that we stand on. And the way all the other planets in space move around ours. Every time a painting’s finished, I’m desperate to do another one.” Damien Hirst