This is the cover art for Penguin’s 150th Anniversary Edition of On the Origin of Species, which was painted by Damien Hirst:
The painting sits firmly in the tradition of “still life” and is made up of objects I’ve come to imbue with my own meanings, some of them Darwinian in origin, and that I guess are seen in other areas of my work. The painting has an X-ray-like quality to it, as if it is revealing something about the structure of the objects painted.
I suppose the work, in a modest way, acknowledges Darwin’s analytical mind and his courage to believe in those ideas that questioned the very fabric of existence and belief in his time.
Even so, I think I prefer the Vintage Classics version:
Either way, a book cover is nothing without a bit of Wordart.
Yesterday I went to Bath to see the group exhibition Cabinets of Curiosity, which is running as part of Fringe Arts Bath until Sunday 8th June. There are numerous reasons to recommend it, not limited to:
- It has been curated by my friends Jan Evans and Anne-Laure Franchette, both of whom have made the space look great.
- It features lovely work by Ellie Evans, another friend of mine, as well as by other people who’s work is really good but who don’t have the good fortune to know me.
- It features me in a big way. That’s right: my image, my face, has been made into art. This is the best reason for seeing the exhibition.
So, if anybody is tempted to go have a look at my face or indeed anything in there that doesn’t involve me, it’s at 12 Dorchester Street in Bath, just opposite the train station.