«I JUST READ EVERYTHING»

HONG KONG — A diamond-studded baby's skull by British artist Damien Hirst stares out across a brand new gallery in Hong Kong, smiling over Asia's rising demand for exorbitantly expensive works of art.It is the first time the work's controversial creator has exhibited in Asia, a sure sign that the epicentre of the world's art scene is shifting east -- following the money.
Entitled "For Heaven's Sake", the work is a platinum cast of a human baby skull with more than 16,000 diamonds embedded in it. It is the first time the work has gone on display anywhere."Diamonds are about perfection and clarity and wealth and sex and death and immortality," the artist said in Hong Kong ahead of the "Forgotten Promises" exhibition, which opens on Tuesday."They are a symbol of everything that's eternal, but then they have a dark side as well."
The infant, believed to have been aged around 40 weeks, has been dead a long time. The skull itself was part of a nineteenth century pathology collection owned by the artist and still sits in his studio.

Jan 14 2011