*Correction appended
Damien Hirst's fixation with death makes him an artist particularly appropriate for Halloween, and last weekend select Muscovites had the chance to catch a glimpse of the artist's memento mori work at a special showing of his work hosted by the Timothy Oulton design company at the Home Concept gallery in Moscow's Artplay Design Center.
The showing was an invitation-only, costume-optional halloween party, where visitors spent most of their time milling about the spacious and well-decorated gallery and drinking the complimentary Veuve Cliсquot, rather than admiring the artwork.
Hirst's 2009 piece, "The Dead," which was on display at Timothy Oulton is rather unassuming compared to some of his works, consisting merely of a series of colored prints of skulls set on black background. The naturally bring to mind his better-known work from 2007, "For the Love of God," a diamond-studded platinum model of a human skull. While "The Dead" was similarly shiny, its two-dimensional nature and more reasonable price tag allowed it to be upstaged by Timothy Oulton's surroundings.
Timothy Oulton is a high-end British furniture and design company that focuses on "vintage" pieces, reworking antiques and artifacts to make startling themed interiors — among the interesting rooms at their Moscow gallery is a collection that contains furniture and decorations made of classic 19th-century sporting equipment. The company began showing work in Moscow in May of this year at the Home Concept gallery, inaugurating the launch of their cooperative venture with a similarly extravagant soiree.
Corrections were added to this piece on 11/06/2013 due to reporting errors
