Share
My long-time friend and one of my favorite artists, Space Invader, recently visited LA and brought Damien Hirst and his girlfriend Sophie by my studio. Damien is one of the most successful artists in the world and his aesthetics, concepts, and methods have been widely celebrated and debated well beyond the art world confines. I’ve been a fan of Damien’s art, but especially his provocative approach and attitude, since the ’90s. Hirst first made waves with his dead animals in plexiglass boxes and has become well known for his dot paintings, spin paintings, butterfly mandalas, pill graphics, and skulls. I did not know what to expect meeting Hirst and I was unsurprised that he was charming and witty, but surprised he was also very down to earth and genuinely interested in everything in my studio, with lots of questions about my art and process. He and I are mutual fans of the Sex Pistols and Clash, and Damien was good friends with Joe Strummer, so we had plenty to talk about. Damien came back through for another visit and brought his sons Connor, 27, and Cyrus, 17, who are both funny, creative, and nice guys. Cyrus mentioned he was doing some “guitar and lyrics recordings”… which sounded like a cute hobby. When Damien shared some of Cyrus’s songs I was blown back… the tunes are smart, surly, unpolished urgent post-punk, and are extremely impressive as the product of a 17-year-old. Cyrus goes by Mandi on Soundcloud so check out his tunes. https://soundcloud.com/user-565779329
–Shepard
