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Lily Cole and Donna Air get preview of Damien Hirst's bloodied crows in flight
Last updated at 12:17pm on 25.11.09Having swapped pickling sheep for painting crows, there's no stopping Damien Hirst.
“Believe in art”: Damien Hirst, with four-year-old son Cyrus previewed his exhibition at the White Cube galleries
Gallery: Damien Hirst's private view
Despite the almost universal critical panning of his exhibition of paintings at the Wallace Collection, the artist has two shows opening today at Jay Jopling's White Cube galleries in Mayfair and Shoreditch.
On show: White Cube Galleries' owner Jay Jopling with Lily Cole
Hirst was accompanied by his sons, Connor, 14, Cassius, nine, and four-year-old Cyrus, at the preview of one half of the show, at Jopling's gallery in Hoxton Square last night.
Star guest: Donna Air was keen to get a sneak preview of the exhibition
The work on show includes three triptychs painted over the past two years, each depicting crows shot in mid-flight against blue skies with outspread wings and violent splatters of red paint across their bodies. The crows re-appear at the White Cube in Mason's Yard, near Jermyn Street, in another four triptychs.
Support: artist-turned-director Sam Taylor-Wood with fiancée Aaron Johnson
Other works feature the skulls and a scorpion seen in the Wallace Collection display, where Hirst was criticised for putting his work on show alongside the Old Masters of the exhibition's permanent collection.
The 44-year-old artist best known for preserving animals in formaldehyde has taken up painting with the passion he once reserved for pickling.
He said recently: “It's about looking. It can be learned. That's the great thing about art. Anybody can do it if you just believe. With practice, you can make great paintings.”
Nothing Matters opens to the public at White Cube today and runs until 30 January. No Love Lost is at the Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, until 24 January.
Gallery: Damien Hirst's private view
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