ART CITIES: Vienna-Damien Hirst

The exhibition “Damien Hirst. Drawings”, presented at Vienna’s Albertina Modern from May 7 to October 8, 2025, offers art lovers the opportunity to explore the drawing journey of one of the most influential artists of our time. For the first time, Hirst’s drawings are systematically displayed in a museum setting, revealing a lesser-known but decisive dimension of his work: drawing as a starting point, a process and an autonomous creation.

By Valia Katsimpa
Photo: Valia Katsimpa Archive

Despite his international reputation for bold installations, sculptures and paintings, Hirst has never stopped using drawing as a tool of thought and reflection. Sketches and images from the 1980s to the present are exhibited to the public many of which were the first forms of some of his most emblematic works, such as the Natural History series with animals in formaldehyde. The exhibition sometimes places these drawings alongside related sculptures and paintings, shedding light on the drawing roots of his visual language, while in other instances it juxtaposes them with more spontaneous creations, thus recording his early critical explorations of life and death, beauty and decay. However, the exhibition’s focus extends beyond archival retrospection. It highlights instead the continuous presence of drawing as an intermediary yet independent artistic language, transforming thought into image and idea into tangible form. Special emphasis is placed on the ambitious project “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable”. These drawings, inspired by the iconography of archaeological studies, blur the lines between history and fiction, questioning narratives surrounding authenticity and the reliability of art and memory. In another section, visitors encounter the participatory installation “Making Beautiful Drawings” (1994). There, a drawing machine produces works through the interplay of chance and viewer participation, emphasizing the relationship between randomness, control, and artistic intent. This process results in the famous Spin Drawings, which appear to trap speed and rotation on the canvas as formal principles. Through this exhibition, the Albertina’s audience has the opportunity to discover a more introspective side of Hirst, one rarely seen behind the spectacularity of his large-scale installations. It also reveals that for Hirst, drawing is neither a peripheral activity nor mere preparation. It is a means of experimentation, a mode of thinking, and at the same time a space of anticipation for the work to come. Unlike most of his works, which are often organized within specific frameworks or unfold across the canvas surface, Hirst’s drawings remain perpetually open, preserving the sense of imminent completion. The exhibition “Damien Hirst. Drawings” functions not only as a retrospective, but also as a revelation. It repositions Hirst in the contemporary history of art as a creator who begins with pencil and paper to construct worldviews, showing that even in his most radical gestures, drawing remains the unseen foundation.

Photo: Damien Hirst, Beautiful Temporarily Lost at Sea, 2008, Drawing-pastel and ink on paper. © Damien Hirst, Private Collection, Photo: © & Courtesy Valia Katsimpa

Info: Curator: Elsy Lahner, Assistant Curator: Lorenz Ecker, Albertina Modern, Karlsplatz 5, Vienna, Austrisa, Duration: 7/5-8/10/2025, Days & Hours: Daily 10:00-18:00, www.albertina.at/