For the Love of God (2007) sits at the center of gallery 1. One of Hirst’s best known works, it merges his interests in images of death with ideas of belief and value. A diamond encrusted platinum cast of a human skull, with human teeth, For the Love of God is considered one of the most expensive sculptures ever to have been produced. It pays homage to Aztec skulls adorned with turquoise and other precious materials and a wide range of other sacred objects perceived to be of immeasurable value. The value of this work was part of its concept from the outset, at a time of record-breaking prices during an especially buoyant period in the art market. It relates to Hirst’s other projects that question the value system associated with art, when he placed bodies of work directly from the studio into auction sales, circumventing the established gallery system.

Surrounding the “diamond skull” are examples of the artist’s series of Cherry Blossom paintings. They adopt the method of pointillism from the French Post-Impressionists. The application of colored dots instead of lines to define form also has clear associations with Hirst’s own abstract Spot Paintings. Hirst claimed this approach as a return to making art that his mother would like, a simple beauty that was appealing to all. As is often the case with Hirst, what appears as a simple or naïve statement, obfuscates a more critical position. The cherry blossom is also a symbol of the transitory nature of life in many cultures, due to their flowering only briefly in spring, extending his exploration of art in relation to the brevity of existence. Together, the diamond skull and Cherry Blossom paintings continue a questioning of the nature of value and the transience of life.

A series of works located on the terrace and in the plaza concentrate on sculptural depictions of the human form. Measuring more than 10-meters-high, the painted bronze sculpture on the plaza is titled The Virgin Mother (2005). It is based on an educational model used for anatomical studies that shows a woman close to full term pregnancy, with one part of her torso exposed of skin and muscle to reveal her organs. The title has an obvious religious reference, and continues the merging found throughout Hirst’s work between science and religious belief. Hirst began producing works based on enlarged anatomical models in the 1990s, after initially including such models in early Medicine Cabinets. As with the preserved animals, they take an unflinching approach to the duality of beauty and horror, applied to the human form, albeit schematically.

The more recent bronze sculptures collectively known as Relics investigate other examples of religious figures, again merged with scientific aspects. The flayed martyr, Saint Bartholomew, who is widely associated with medicine and surgery, is depicted in The Martyr - Saint Bartholomew (2019) carrying his skin over his arm, with a scalpel in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. His image has frequently been depicted in Christian paintings and became an acceptable means of portraying anatomy in a pre-enlightenment period where medicine and faith were closely intertwined. Meanwhile in Anatomy of an Angel (2008), like The Virgin Mother, a part of the figure’s anatomy is revealed, in direct contradiction of the long accepted religious belief that angels were not earthly creatures and had no bodily form.

Through this survey of Hirst’s broad ranging practice, To Live Forever (For a While) demonstrates a sustained questioning of our accepted cultural and social values. While mortality proves an enduring subject for Hirst’s attention, it is how the reality of death is so consistently avoided that reveals the point where our lives in all their complexities and contradictions merge.