Love Lost

On Saturday I visited the Wallace Collection, I was there to see the Damien Hirst hangings. After that I headed for the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Royal Academy. Not particularly original choices I know, but I wanted to see them both, simple as that. I am not an artist or art reviewer, I was not looking for credibility I was looking for art.

So, Hirst first. I am an admirer of the man, he makes me laugh whenever I read his interviews or hear him on the radio. In the past I have messed about with music and "wrote" (not the right word) a song in which I sampled him and Jay Jopling, I recorded it on a four track and you can find it on : http://www.myspace.com/thequietbusker.

Hirst has a twisted twinkle in his eye and I believe (hope) he has a lot of fun being in such a powerful position in the art world. However, power and the guaranteed pampering that comes with it has its downfalls and one is that Damien was allowed to show so many pieces. If merit was essential, then three or four paintings would have made it into the exhibition, I fear no one dared say no to Damien or the publicity that accompanies him. It's a shame, because three skulls and a vase of flowers seeding butterflies would have left many feeling, well, it's not great, but it was worth the trip. But the cloud of black, white and blue paintings that hover in the first floor of the gallery look, well, a bit studenty (not an adjective I know, but it should be).

As I said I am not qualified to review the "show"(?) so I will move on to what irked me about No Love Lost - the price of the posters. £30.00. The most expensive I have ever seen at an exhibition. Why? The paper looked ordinary, the print quality unremarkable, it wasn't signed or advertised as having being touched, sneezed on or glanced upon by the great man, so why the hike in prices when compared to other exhibition posters? (Newsflash: I just received an e mail from my sister. She wrote to the Wallace Gallery asking why the posters were so expensive - they have confirmed it was Hirst's representatives that set the price).

I felt a deep sense of being let down by Damien. I know he couldn't care less about it but I consider myself a defender of his whenever his name comes up in conversation (when he is usually being slagged off) and this made me feel a little of the bitterness towards him that others have in abundance. I guess the diamond encrusted skull was a sign of the greed that powers him these days. His Leeds accent (which i love, having being brought up just outside the city) wins me over each time I hear him talk about his work, is all that is left of his old self and maybe (like Morrissey) it will get stronger the longer he lives away from the north of England in an effort to appeal to his old followers and seem still real?

I toyed with calling this blog Wallace and Vomit, but that seemed a bit hard, I didn't feel the urge to vomit at the price of the posters, just violently irritated. And for those of you reading this (few do) thinking I am a stingy northerner, you are wrong, I didn't see any southerners splashing out on the posters in the ten minutes I deliberated in the shop about buying the bloody thing.

For your entertainment have a peek at this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2009/oct/16/damienhirst-banking

Anish review will follow, at some stage.

TQB