Damien Hirst is the UK's richest living artist. Death is a central theme in his works. He became famous for a series of artworks in which dead animals (including a shark, a sheep and a cow) are preserved - sometimes having been dissected - in formaldehyde. While he probably errs on the side of glass half empty I was throughly fascinated with his work from a scientific point of view (a microbiology background I guess) and the amount of bling on display in the form of diamond encrusted human skulls.
I was so taken by the enormity of the sharks that I rushed back after school with Owen and Erin so they could take a look. Owen kept snapping away on his leap pad and was blown away but lots of displays. Erin wasn't keen on the cows head being separate from the cow though.
A dove suspended in formalydehyde
Circular display of butterfly wings
A basking shark in formaldehyde
Damien with a human head
Owen taking a picture of a circular board with dead flies glued to it
