Lenticular print on PETG plastic. 
61 x 61 cm. 
Edition of 50. 
Signed and numbered on the reverse. 
Framed. 
From the Entomology Paintings Series.
 
Damien Hirst’s ‘Inferno’ (2016), a lenticular digital print, remarks in incredible detail his fascination with natural history through his rendering of insects. Set against a dark backdrop, the work is an excellent example of the artist’s celebrated series of ‘Entomology Paintings’.
 
In ‘Inferno’, insects like ladybirds, beetles and butterflies are carefully arranged into patterns akin to those of his ‘Kaleidoscope’ works. Made after an original painting in which insects were inserted into Hammerite gloss paint, the present lenticular print manages to maintain the sense of depth and detail.
 
‘Inferno’, like all works from ‘Entomology Paintings’, takes its title from Dante Alighieri’s ‘The Divine Comedy’, specifically the famous journey through Hell. Such references to the tortuous events of the afterlife highlight the overriding theme of death. Nonetheless, ‘Inferno’ maintains a sense of life with its vibrant colours conferring the print a sense of liveliness that sparks what Hirst calls a ‘universal trigger’. Speaking on his ‘Entomology Paintings’ series, Hirst referred to them as ‘beautiful and horrific at the same time, you can’t help but be drawn into it, seduced by it, but you want to run away from it’.