Treasures from a wreck

Damien Hirst’s exhibition in Venice tells the story of the ancient wreck of the ship Unbelievable and presents what was discovered of its precious cargo. #BiennaleArte2017

“Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” is the first major solo exhibition dedicated to Damien Hirst in Italy since the 2004 retrospective at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples (“The Agony and Ecstasy”). The exhibition is displayed across 5,000 square meters of museum space and marks the first time that Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, the two Venetian venues of the Pinault Collection, are both dedicated to a single artist.

<b>Top:</b> Damien Hirst, <i>Demon with Bowl (Exhibition Enlargement)</i>. Photo Prudence Cuming Associates, © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017. <b>Above:</b> Damien Hirst, <i>Hydra and Kali (two versions), Hydra and Kali Beneath the Waves</i> (Christoph Gerigk). Photo Prudence Cuming Associates, © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017
Damien Hirst, <i>Five Grecian Nudes, Five Antique Torsos, Grecian Nude</i> (three versions). Photo Prudence Cuming Associates, © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017
Damien Hirst, Pair of Masks (left), Sphinx (right). Photo Prudence Cuming Associates, © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017

  Damien Hirst’s most ambitious and complex project to date, “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” has been almost ten years in the making. Exceptional in scale and scope, the exhibition tells the story of the ancient wreck of the ship Unbelievable and presents what was discovered of its precious cargo: the impressive collection of Aulus Calidius Amotan, a freed slave better known as Cif Amotan II, destined to the legendary temple dedicated to the Sun.

(left to right) Damien Hirst, Skull of a Cyclops, Skull of a Cyclops Examined by a Diver (Christoph Gerigk). Photo Prudence Cuming Associates, © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017