Selected works from Damien Hirst's private 'Murderme' collection are currently being exhibited for the first time in Moscow, by the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow. The exhibition 'Freedom Not Genius' sees artist Damien Hirst appear as the collector, revealing the sources of his inspiration, passions and tastes. The two Francis Bacon piece's from Hirst's collection on display are 'Man in Blue II', 1954 oil on canvas, and 'Self-Portrait' 1969, oil on canvas. Two themes recurring frequently in both Hirst's own work and the Murderme collection, are memento mori and the animal kingdom. Communicating the spirit of the collection - a combination of contemporary masterpieces, and unique unusual objects that fascinate and intimidate, resulting in unexpected and surprising works.
"Genius is easy. Genius means that everybody isn’t an artist. Freedom means that everybody is an artist. I believe in freedom. I don’t believe in genius. I don’t think that artists are special people. I think they’re normal people who have managed to harness somehow what is important for everybody. I don’t think they’re born special..." - Damien Hirst
Accompanying Francis Bacon on display are works from Giacometti, Richard Hamilton, Banksy, Peter Blake, Pablo Picasso, Sarah Lucas, Mario Merz, Bruce Nauman, Richard Prince and Kurt Schwitters. For more information on this exhibition, including images and video, please visit the MAMM website. Freedom Not Genius November 29th 2013 - February 2nd 2014 Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow Curated by: Elena Geuna Word ref: MAMM press release, special thanks to Vitaly Akinshin.
