“People are afraid of change, so you create a kind of belief for them through repetition. It’s like breathing. I’ve always been drawn to series and pairs. A unique thing is quite a frightening object.”
—Damien Hirst

One of the most infamous and controversial figures of contemporary culture, Damien Hirst has built a career on challenging conventions and exploring the intersections of art, science, and commercial culture; themes which collide in his defining series of Spot Paintings. A striking example of the series in a monumental format, Cesium Fluoride showcases Hirst's ability to transform simple forms into complex visual experiences.

Coming Full Circle: The Legacy of the Dots

 

Hirst rose to fame alongside other fellow so-called ‘Young British Artists’ in the late 1980s and 1990s, executing his first Spot Painting in 1986 while completing his Fine Art degree at Goldsmiths. Since that initial canvas—a medley of colourful, paint-dripping dots—the series has expanded to include over a thousand hand-painted, meticulously executed works. The Spot Paintings went global in 2012, when over three-hundred pieces were simultaneously exhibited across Gagosian’s eleven locations worldwide, infiltrating the cultural hotspots of London, New York and Hong Kong. This momentous exhibition, The Complete Spot Paintings 1986—2011, affirmed Hirst’s Spots as his most enduring motif. ‘Showing them all over the world at the same time becomes part of their content and meaning,’ Adrian Searle writes, ‘they're infiltrating everywhere, their field expanding to cover the world.’ⁱ Cesium Fluoride was exhibited in the New York leg of Hirst’s major Gagosian exhibition, solidifying its importance in his oeuvre.

 

Watch: Damien Hirst reflects on his first Spot Painting from 1986, painted when the artist was still an undergraduate student at Goldsmiths

 

A Masterpiece of Formal Precision & Conceptual Depth

 

Formally, Cesium Fluoride is a masterpiece of precision and vibrancy. The work is composed of an extensive grid of uniformly sized, meticulously painted coloured spots, each measuring exactly two-inches in diameter, spaced two-inches apart. Executed in household gloss on canvas, the surface shimmers with a polished finish, enhancing the saturation and intensity of the colours. Each spot is distinct, with no two colours repeating, a hallmark of Hirst's commitment to the idea of infinite variation within a structured system. This careful orchestration of form and colour creates a rhythmic, almost hypnotic visual effect, drawing the viewer into an immersive experience of machine-like perfection.
 

The vertical composition of Cesium Fluoride adds to its dynamic and seemingly infinite presence, accentuating the repetition and uniformity of the spots. This format challenges more conventional readings of these paintings, inviting viewers to engage with the work in a more active gaze that mirrors the human body’s own upright stance. As a result, the painting feels both monumental and intimate, vast in scale yet approachable in its simplicity.
 

Cesium Fluoride exists within Hirst’s longstanding Pharmaceuticals series, a subset of his Spot Paintings. Referencing a chemical compound, this nod to scientific nomenclature is not merely decorative; it reflects Hirst's deep interest in the relationship between art and science which first came to the fore in his 1989 medicine cabinet, Bodies. By naming his works after chemical substances, the artist draws parallels between the systematic nature of scientific inquiry and the methodical process of creating art. The clinical, almost sterile connotation of ‘cesium fluoride’ contrasts sharply with the vibrant, joyful palette of the painting, creating a tension that is both intellectually stimulating and visually captivating.

 

The Spot Paintings are central to Hirst's practice not just for their aesthetic appeal but for their conceptual depth. They represent a radical departure from more traditional art-making practices, following in the lineage of artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol in their embrace of mechanical repetition and the erasure of the artist’s hand. Hirst openly acknowledges that many of these works were executed by his assistants under his direction: ‘a mechanical way to avoid the actual guy in a room, myself, with a blank canvas.’ⁱⁱ His Spot Paintings challenge conventional notions of authorship and authenticity in art, prompting critical discussions about the role of the artist in the creative process.

The Legacy of Damien Hirst

 

Hirst's success as an artist is inextricably linked to his ability to provoke, to question, and to redefine the boundaries of art. From his early days with the YBAs to his record-breaking auctions and global exhibitions, Hirst has maintained a fearless approach to art-making. The Spot Paintings epitomise this spirit. They are works that are as much about the process and the ideas behind them as they are about the final visual outcome. For collectors and art enthusiasts alike, Cesium Fluoride represents more than just a beautiful composition of colourful dots. It is a piece of contemporary art history, a celebration of colour, structure, and the boundless possibilities of artistic expression. As part of the iconic Spot Paintings series, it stands as a powerful testament to Hirst's lasting impact on the contemporary art world.

 

Collector’s Digest

 

• Damien Hirst came to prominence as a member of the Young British Artists, or YBAs, in the 1990s alongside Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas and Jenny Saville
   

• In 2012, over three-hundred Spot Paintings by Hirst, including Cesium Fluoride (2004-2011), were presented simultaneously in a global exhibition across all of Gagosian’s eleven locations, including New York, London and Hong Kong
   

• Since 1987, Hirst has been the subject of over ninety solo exhibitions worldwide, including at the Qatar Museums Authority, ALRIQAX Doha; Tate Modern, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples

 

 

 

ⁱ Adrian Searle, ‘Full circle: the endless attraction of Damien Hirst’s spot paintings’, The Guardian, 12 January 2012.

ⁱⁱ Damien Hirst, quoted in, Martin Chilton, ‘Damien Hirst’s spot paintings: 1,365 and counting’, The Telegraph, 12 June 2013.