Summary
Who’s Afraid of the Dark? is a rectangular canvas coated with a combination of flies and resin. The canvas was primed with black acrylic primer before the dead houseflies and clear resin mixture was poured onto it. This method of application resulted in an uneven surface with different levels and a variation in colour caused by the different fly parts (red, brown, black and white). The painting’s overall colour is a rich brown-black. The resin mixture increases the natural glossiness of the flies, with the result that the surface coating has a sticky appearance reminiscent of tar or toffee.
Hirst made his first fly painting, Untitled Black Monochrome (Without Emotion), in 1997. At this point, he had not yet perfected the technique of mixing flies with resin, and the painting smelled so bad that the Italian designer Miuccia Prada who had bought it could not keep it in her house… (read more)
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