Damien Hirst, H8-2 Fruitful, 2020

Laminated Giclée print on aluminum composite panel

15.5 x 15.5 in | 39 x 39 cm

Ed of 3308

Hypnotically thick impasto in delightfully garish hues define Damien Hirst’s ‘Fruitful (Small)’ (H8-2, 2020), a limited edition print illustrating abstract details from his painting series ‘Cherry Blossoms’ (2018-20). Depicting blossom trees in full bloom, the series is inspired by the work of Pierre Bonnard, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and the Pointillist innovations of Georges Seurat. On the edge of abstraction and figuration, the ‘Cherry Blossoms’ see Hirst combine elements of gestural painting in his thick brushstrokes with more traditional techniques.

In ‘Fruitful (Small)’, an abstract paint passage from one of Hirst’s towering ‘Cherry Blossoms’ canvases is enlarged, the dynamic swaths of white, pink and green paint zoomed in for our microscopic study. Set against a black background, the heavy impasto is pulled across the frame and the exceedingly viscous material curls and bends as if alive, the colours meeting and overlapping. Humorous in its ability to trick any viewer desperate to touch the bubble gum-like brushes of paint, ‘Fruitful (Small)’ encourages up close inspection of Hirst’s painterly techniques as viewers immerse themselves in his wonderous world of colour.

Produced in 2020 in partnership with the Fondazione Prada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to support schoolchildren in Italy, the fantastically tactile and vibrantly coloured ‘Fruitful (Small)’ is a reminder of the joy and beauty around us.