The Magnificent Seven

Damien Hirst´s Magnificent Seven is an artwork consisting of seven ping pong balls in the original cardboard box signed and ink stamped on the base. Each ball has a word on it, and all of them relate to academic work. The words are: Theories, Models, Methods, Approaches, Assumptions, Results and Findings - words that might ping pong around in a researchers head…

The artwork is a limited edition published by Gagosian Gallery, New York, for the exhibition ”Theories, Models, Methods, Approaches, Assumptions, Results and Findings” – an exhibition highlighting the gallery’s commitment to merging art with conceptual and everyday objects.

Find the artwork in the Heckscher-Ohlin room on floor 5, Sveavägen 65.

Damien Hirst, born in the UK in 1965 and educated at Goldsmiths, rose to prominence in late 1980s London. He is one of the most notorious artists of his generation and has pushed the limits of fine art and good taste with sculptures that comprise dead animals submerged in formaldehyde (such as Mother and Child (Divided), 1993 and Away from the Flock, 1994) and a human skull studded with 8,601 diamonds (For the Love of God, 2007).

Through his installations, sculptures, drawings, and paintings, Hirst explores themes including religion, mortality, and desire. In 2008, he controversially staged “Beautiful Inside my Head Forever,” a two day auction of new work at Sotheby´s in which he sold his work directly to the public and raked in around $200 million for himself.

Damien Hirst. Wikimedia Commons.