Fresh Tint

A series of new paintings by Damien Hirst, entitled Colour Space, will be installed in the State Rooms at Houghton Hall, in Norfolk this March.

The exhibition, Damien Hirst at Houghton Hall: Colour Space Paintings & Outdoor Sculptures, will run between 25th March and 15th July and will include a number of the artist’s most celebrated paintings and sculptures which will be installed throughout the 18th century house and gardens.

What to expect from the exhibition

The Colour Space paintings have never been shown in public before and are a development of the iconic Spot Paintings which are among the artist's most recognised works. 

Where the Spot Paintings of the 1980s and 90s use the logic of a machine, the Colour Space paintings are ‘looser and more organic in appearance’.

Six sculptures will be installed outdoors in the park featuring some of the artist’s most famous and visual works. They include The Virgin Mother, which was shown in the courtyard of the Royal Academy in 2006, and Charity which was installed on Hoxton Square in 2003 and outside the Royal West of England Academy of Art in Bristol in 2011. 

The sculptures that will be installed in the house include: Saint Bartholomew; Exquisite Pain in the Entrance Hall; and two smaller kinetic sculptures from the artist’s ‘levitation’ series featuring air blowers and table tennis balls, in the Stone Hall.

The display also forms part of the visual arts programme of Norfolk & Norwich Festival which takes place between 11th and 27th May.

Lord Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton, commented: ''We are delighted to have this opportunity to show Damien Hirst's new paintings in the State Rooms at Houghton, together with some of his best-known sculptures in the grounds. 

“It is perhaps the first time that Hirst has shown a significant body of work in a formal country house setting. William Kent's gilded interiors will be transformed for the duration of the show.”

Groups with 20 or more receive discounted tickets. Booking is recommended.

For more information, visit www.houghtonhall.com

Image credit: Flesh Tint (2016) Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2017.