Followed by a Gourmet Gazette Slide Show

Paris, France — The blooms seem to burst forth covering the walls they are hanging on. The Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris is currently playing host to Cherry Blossoms, a remarkable new series of paintings from Damien Hirst. The artist, known for his exploration of themes revolving around life and death, works in diverse mediums ranging from sculpture and installation to painting and drawing. The exhibition, Hirst’s first in a French institution, brings together 30 large-format paintings chosen by the artist from among the 107 canvases in the series. So if you can’t be in Paris right now, The Gourmet Gazette brings this spectacular show to you as well as views of the artist at work.

The Cherry Blossoms series, to which he devoted three full years, marks the artist’s return to solitary work in his studio. He worked on several canvases at the same time creating a world of blossoms against a backdrop of a dreamy sky. The works are monumental and covered with lively and saturated colors drawing the visitor into a world of luxurious vegetation.

« I have had a romance with painting all my life, even if I avoided it. As a young artist you react to the context, your situation. In the 1980s, painting really wasn’t really the way to go, » explains Hirst who lives and works in London.

On-line films, conferences and a catalogue book round out the exhibition experience. The show is on until January 2nd, 2022. The Cartier Foundation is located in a spectacular steel and glass building designed by Jean Novel in the heart of Paris and is surrounded by a garden that has been conceived to look like a tree-filled meadow of diverse plants.
©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette
https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/

The Slide Show of the Exhibition and Damien Hirst, the Artist