A Spanish artist has sparked controversy by exhibiting a sculpture of British artist Damien Hirst shooting himself in the head.

Eugenio Merino's sculpture of British artist Damien Hirst

Eugenio Merino's sculpture, which depicts Hirst blowing his own brains out, complete with blood dripping off his lip, was created as a comment on the British artist's £50m diamond-studded skull, For the Love of God.

Merino has called his piece "4 the Love of Go(l)d", suggesting that the value of Hirst's work would only be enhanced by his own death.

"I thought that, given that he thinks so much about money, his next work could be that he shot himself. Like that the value of his work would increase dramatically," he told The Guardian. "Obviously, though, he would not be around to enjoy it."

Merino's work, displayed in a glass case like the ones Hirst is known for filling with formaldehyde and dead animals, has been on display at Madrid's ARCO art fair.

"It is a joke but it is also paradoxical that if he did kill himself his work would be worth even more," said Merino. "That is a metaphor for the current state of the art world."

Merino denied he hated Hirst, and said he was a great fan of his work.

"I am a fan. I studied him at art school. I'm just adding my own little grain of sand."

The artist has devoted the rest of his ARCO show to parodies of Hirst's work, including a football split in half to expose the inside of a skull and brain called "Hooligan's Anatomy".