What's a little market massaging between friends? Damien Hirst is organising an exhibition of works by Jeff Koons—all drawn from Hirst’s Murderme collection. It is the first major show in the UK for Koons since his 2009 Serpentine Gallery exhibition but it is already raising eyebrows for potentially boosting the value of Hirst’s collection, given that the former YBA is reported to sell Koons’s art, as well as buy it. Now, as the show is called, is due to open at Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery on 18 May (until 16 October) and spans 35 years of Koons’s career, featuring more than 30 paintings, works on paper and sculptures. According to Artsy, Hirst, who has been collecting Koons’s work for 12 years, keeps a small, inflatable sculpture by the US artist on his office desk. “It’s the first thing you see when you walk into the room. I love it. It looks like you could pop it with a pin, but it’s cast metal so it can last forever,” Hirst says. Looks like the Hirst-Koons love-in is also destined for eternity.
