Damien Hirst, Chicken, 1999, from The Last Supper; screen print, published by Paragon Press, edition of 150, 60 x 40 inches

Love, death, life, suffering, loyalty, and betrayal are among the ambiguities of the human condition explored in the provocative, unconventional and, at times, controversial works of British artist Damien Hirst. The exhibition Focus: Damien Hirst is on view July 29–December 5, 2008, at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art’s galleries at Kemper East, 200 East 44th Street, Kansas City, Missouri.

Best known for his Natural History works, animals suspended in formaldehyde in industrial vitrines, Hirst reframes fundamental questions regarding the uncertainty and fragility of life. The exhibition examines these themes, among others, in the holdings of the Kemper Museum by this prominent artist, including the print series The Last Supper (1999).

Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol, UK. He grew up in Leeds before graduating with a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, London where he was the dominant figure of a generation of British artists. In 1988, he curated the Goldsmiths exhibition, Freeze, in a warehouse in Surrey Docks, East London. He lives and works in London, Devon and Mexico. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including Into Me/Out of Me, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2006), In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Tate Britain, the 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and Century City, Tate Modern (2001). Solo exhibitions include Astrup Fearnley Museet fur Moderne Kunst, Oslo (2005), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2005), Archaeological Museum, Naples (2004) and In the darkest hour there may be light (2006) works from Damien Hirst’s Murderme collection, curated by the artist, Serpentine Gallery, London. He received the DAAD fellowship in Berlin in 1994 and the Turner Prize in 1995. In August 2007, his diamond-encrusted skull, For the Love of God, sold for £50 million.