Damien Hirst's exhibition "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" becomes a book

 

The new exhibition of Damien Hirst opened on April 9 in Venice.

Ten years after his last successful work, the English artist returned with Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, a project featuring 189 exhibited works, restored by Hirst and recovered from an astonishing vessel, rediscovered by archaeologists in 2008 in the maritime abyss of East Africa.

In fact, this is a fictitious story and all the objects discovered have been made by the bad boy of contemporary art and its collaborators, mixing ancient and contemporary materials, such as bronze and gold with steel and LEDs. So Mickey Mouse becomes an ancient work, lost in the sea with bushes of Egyptian, Greek or Hindu gods, Mowgli, Transformers model, ancient vessels... The most impressive piece? A gigantic 18-meter-high decapitated bronze statue that could depict the ancient Babylonian deity Pazuzu, the demon and wind king, or perhaps, according to Jan Dalley of the Financial Times, the ego of the leading exponent of Young British Artists.

This showcase of 54,000 square meters, until December 3, housed at Punta Della Dogana and at Palazzo Grassi (Pinault Foundationís exhibition spaces), is probably one of the most expensive shows ever put in place by a contemporary artist. It is yet another example of Hirst's shocking, irreverent and controversial spirit of his ability to induce and make him talk of transforming art into an event and a message.

If Venice is too far away for you, you can experience the atmosphere of The Treasures of the Wreck of the Unbelievable in a 240-page book that reveals the underwater recovery of finds with images taken in the Indian Ocean by Christoph Gerigk and Steve Russell.