'I want the viewer to do a lot of work and feel uncomfortable. They should be made to feel responsible for their own view of the world rather than look at an artist’s view and be critical of it,' (D. Hirst, 'I Want to Spend the Rest of my Life Everywhere, with Everyone, One to One', Always, Forever, Now, New York, 1997, p.16).
Captivating with its frantic energy, Beautiful Mider Intense Cathartic Painting (with Extra Inner Beauty) is the embodiment of Damien Hirst’s profound enthusiasm for the primordial state of creation and death. Emblazoned with Hirst’s signature imagery of the skull, this painting represents the physicality of man in opposition to metaphysical views of existence. Far from cheerfulness, the work alludes to darkness and danger. The multi-coloured fragments adorning the skull appear to be part of an ominous celestial scene such as a galactic explosion. Hirst balances this sublime spectacle with allegories of mortality, resurrecting his fascination with transcendence.
The technique is evident in the method of paint application used by the artist; multi-coloured glossy paint is poured onto the canvas surface while it rotates, enhancing the intrinsic spontaneity of the process. The artist employs factory production methods to emphasize the dissimilarity between labour and concept; the factory produces, but is never involved in the conceptualisation of the work. The movement of the machine is also an element that provides satisfaction for the artist – 'Every time they’re finished, I’m desperate to do another one' (the artist, in Damien Hirst and Gordon Burn, On the Way to Work, 2001, p. 221). Whilst reminiscent of Warhol’s factory-like production process, Hirst’s Spin series also mimics the expression of Jackson Pollock’s action paintings.
Hirst began the Spin Paintings in the early 1990s and completed the first work Beautiful Ray of Sunshine on a Rainy Day Painting and Beautiful Where Did All the Colour Go Painting, in 1992. The following year he set up a spin art stall with fellow artist Angus Fairhurst at Joshua Compston’s artist-led street fair, A Fete Worse than Death. While living in Berlin in 1994, Hirst commissioned the manufacture of a spin machine, and thereafter began to seriously develop the series.
Damien Hirst has become one of the most influential artists of his generation. His output is prolific and diverse in its use of varied mediums and artistic techniques. His obsession with death often dominates his production, while the Spin Paintings present compelling examples of the artist’s impressions of life, technology, and the sublime qualities of picture-making. Hirst’s work encourages the onlooker to re-examine his or her personal existence in relation to the relevant surrounding environment.