Initiated in 1986, Damien Hirst’s 'Spot Paintings' are among the most iconic of contemporary art. The first and largest of thirteen subsets, the 'Pharmaceutical Paintings' series has its genesis in a fascination with the dialogue between art and science. Hirst’s methodology is rigorous and his composition systematic: strict grid patterns define the positions of chromatic circles, which vary between works from one millimetre to sixty inches in diameter. ‘To create that structure, to do those colours, and do nothing. I suddenly got what I wanted. It was just a way of pinning down the joy of colour.’ (Damien Hirst in Damien Hirst and Gordon Burn, On the Way to Work, London: Faber and Faber, 2001, p. 119).

As with the rest of the series, Phenylpropiolic Acid derives its title from the company catalogue of life sciences corporation Sigma-Aldrich. The 'Pharmaceutical Paintings' are blueprints, each a schematic document of the titular chemical’s atomic structure. Though the arrangements may appear random, they result from an exacting process, and each unique colour is born from a meticulous procedure of mixing household gloss paints. This disconnect between product and method creates a resonant conceptual tension, while the spots buzz with an unbridled visual delight. ‘If you look closely at any one of these paintings a strange thing happens: because of the lack of repeated colours, there is no harmony … So in every painting there is a subliminal sense of unease; yet the colours project so much joy it’s hard to feel it, but it’s there.’ (Damien Hirst, I want to spend the rest of my life everywhere, with everyone, one to one, always, forever, now, London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1997, p. 246). Brightly clinical and deceptively simple, Phenylpropiolic Acid is a triumph of design and spectacle that displays Hirst’s mastery of the human eye to thrilling effect.