Damien Hirst Con-man or Genius?

Damien Hirst is a peculiar man obsessed with preserving dead bodies of animals. I honestly don't know how this man is one of the richest living artists. He's had dead sharks and sheep put into a tank of formaldehyde, an assistant to paint coloured dots on canvases and a room full of medicine boxes displayed on shelves. Hirst is a lazy con artist, who has other people to do his work, in his own words "I couldn't be fucking arsed doing it" so what does he actually do apart from thinking up ideas. I'm not a fan of conceptual art; consciously placing inanimate objects around is not a form art.  Hirst hasn't actually taken the time to create something, as an audience we appreciate the artists work because we know we couldn't make it ourselves with Hirst that’s not the case. Looking at a dead shark in a tank is interesting but it doesn't evoke any emotions, and to be honest what’s the purpose of this shark, how does it represent his views and emotions? Instead you have pretentious art critics blowing smoke up his ass ranting and raving how Hirsts shark addresses 'the big issues of life and death'. How has Hirst inherited the status as a great artist of our time? An, accolade that was once occupied by actual greats such as Lucien Freud, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso.Anyhow enough with my rant, Hirst will be exhibiting his so called artwork at the Tate modern in London.The art they exhibit is supposed to be the best in the world, so be prepared to see skilfully painted dots and perfectly stacked medicine boxes. in Hirst's mind these objects represent death; but in my opinion they are just ready made objects placed in a room. 

  

                                            

The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living
This shark made Hirst a rich man, he didn't even have the audacity to catch it himself . 

References: Julian Spalding (2012) 'Con art the genius Damien Hirst', 31 March 2012. Daily Mail online. Available at:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123346/Con-art-The-genius-Damien-Hirst.  (Accessed:1 April 2012). 


Hirst, Damien and Burn, Gordon (2001). 'On the Way to Work'. Publisher: Faber and Faber (November 5, 2001)