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Turner Prize History

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Damien Hirst
Shortlisted: 1992, 1995

The impulses driving Damien Hirst's work stem from dilemmas inherent in human life: 'I am aware of mental contradictions in everything, like: I am going to die and I want to live for ever. I can't escape the fact and I can't let go of the desire'. The materials he uses often shock, but he says he 'uses shock almost as a formal element . not so much to thrust his work in the public eye . but rather to make aspects of life and death visible'.

I Want You Because I Can't Have You (detail)
I Want You Because I Can't Have You (detail) 1992
MDF, melamine, wood, steel, glass, perspex cases, fish and formaldehyde solution
2 parts, each 121.9 x 243.8 x 30.5 cm
Private Collection   © the artist   Photo: Tate Photography
(Shortlisted 1992)

Mother and Child, Divided
Mother and Child, Divided 1993
Steel, GRP composites, glass, silicone sealants, cow, calf, formaldehyde solution
Dimensions variable
Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo   © the artist   Photo: Tate Photography
(Shortlisted 1993)

Damien Hirst was born in Bristol, England in 1965 and attended Goldsmiths College from 1986 to 1989. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1992, and won the award when he was nominated again in 1995. His works were selected on the basis of his exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Saatchi Gallery, and his touring show which opened at the Serpentine Gallery.

This information has been taken from The Turner Prize: Twenty Years, by Virginia Button, Tate Publishing, 2003.

View Damien Hirst in the Tate Collection