Contemporary art
USA
Crossing the finish line in LA
By Cristina Ruiz.
Larger than the Hollywood sign? Hirst's spots in Beverly Hills
The sun is shining in Beverly Hills and Hirst’s spots look great in the last Gagosian branch on my tour. I took a 7am flight from New York to get here and to keep costs low I’m heading straight back to the airport to catch a flight back to New York after I finish. Fortunately, after the surly Gagosian employees in New York, the staff here are a delight—smiling, chatty, friendly. They even give me a tour of the building and take me up to the roof terrace to see the Franz West sculptures and Jorge Pardo lanterns.
Then my card receives its final stamp and the challenge is complete. I am asked to fill in a form where I can choose the personalised inscription Damien Hirst will write on my very own limited-edition spot print. What can I write? I want to choose something Hirst might actually want to say to me. So after careful consideration I come up with something short and to the point: “Dear Cristina, Fuck off.”
After four trains and nine flights amounting to nearly 50 hours in the air in the last week alone, I have now seen all 11 Damien Hirst spot shows. So what have I learned? That it’s hard to write nearly 5,000 words about spots. That the paintings make much more sense in rich cities like Geneva and Beverly Hills than they do anywhere else. In places such as these it doesn’t really matter that the paintings have no meaning. They’re colourful and decorative and are instantly recognisable as a work by one of the most famous artists of our time.
My favourite Gagosian galleries on the tour? Rome and Beverly Hills.
Would I do it again? Not in economy class.
The running tally
Flights from New York to LA to New York: £199.10 ($314)
Taxi to JFK: $40
Taxi from LAX to Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills: $55
Taxi to LAX: $50
Taxi from JFK home: $40
Total today: $499
TOTAL SPENT, FINAL TALLY: $3250.75
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