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Born
in Bristol, in 1965, Hirst studied at Goldsmith's
College, London. Hirst’s exhibit of a cow and
calf sawn in half and pickled in formaldehyde
was received unfavourably by critics and public
alike, but made him a household name overnight.
In the late 90s, Hirst’s work has fetched large
sums of money. the most expensive piece so far
has been £188,500 (April 1993) for a medicine
cabinet filled with bottles of medicines entitled
God.. In October 1993 however, he received a
setback when his 'Alone yet Together', a cabinet
containing 100 fish suspended in formaldehyde,
failed to sell at auction in London.
The work is intended to parody Victorian scientists'
specimens.This was the first of his four formaldehyde
Cabinets to be auctioned, and the bidding was
stopped at £85,000. Later the cabinet was sold
for a figure believed to be near the original
expected price. It was estimated that each of
the four cabinets would reach something in the
region of £l00,000-150,000. Hirst’s Loss of
Memory is worse than Death, a steel cage enclosing
formaldehyde containers, a mask, gloves and
a syringe also failed to sell when the bidding
was stopped at £55,000 (it was expected to make
£80,000 -120,000). Hirst's work is controversial
and he is regarded by many as a self-publicist
rather than an artist.
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