Damien Hirst
A conceptual provocateur who turned preserved sharks and diamond skulls into multi-million dollar questions about art, value, and mortality.
Born 1965 (age 61)·British artist·Birthday: June 7·Generation X
Biography
Damien Hirst exploded onto the London art scene in the late 1980s, not with quiet skill but with audacious concepts. As the de facto ringleader of the Young British Artists, he orchestrated exhibitions in abandoned warehouses, challenging the establishment with work that was confrontational, slick, and obsessed with death. His early 'Natural History' series, featuring animals suspended in formaldehyde, asked viewers to stare directly at the physicality of mortality. Hirst then masterfully navigated the intersection of art and commerce, creating spot paintings, spin paintings, and ultimately 'For the Love of God,' a platinum skull encrusted with diamonds, which became a symbol of art's dizzying market value. His career is a continuous, calculated blurring of lines—between beauty and decay, medicine and art, creativity and factory production.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Damien was born in 1965, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Damien Was Born
The biggest hits of 1965
#1 Movie
The Sound of Music
Best Picture
The Sound of Music
#1 TV Show
Bonanza
Damien's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1965Born
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1970Started school
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1978Became a teenager
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1981Could drive
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1983Could vote
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1986Turned 21
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1995Turned 30
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2005Turned 40
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
2015Turned 50
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
2025Turned 60
AI agents go mainstream
Gas: $3.10/galHome: $385,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"APT." — Rose & Bruno Mars
2026Age 61 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Conceived and curated 'Freeze,' the 1988 warehouse exhibition that launched the Young British Artists movement while he was still a student at Goldsmiths.
- Created 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,' a tiger shark in formaldehyde, which became one of the most famous artworks of the 1990s.
- Sold 'For the Love of God,' a diamond-encrusted human skull, for a reported £50 million in 2007.
- Executed 'Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,' a 2008 Sotheby's auction that bypassed galleries entirely, netting £111 million.
Did You Know?
He worked part-time in a mortuary while studying art, an experience that directly influenced his later themes.
He originally wanted to be a cartoonist and cites John Hoyland as a major influence for his use of color.
He owns a restaurant in London called 'Pharmacy,' which was the subject of a trademark lawsuit from actual pharmacists.
“I can't wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it.”
