Damien Hirst at Gagosian

Anyone with even a vague interest in LA art already knows about this show, but after seeing it in person, post I must! It's the Damien Hirst exhibition "Superstition," at Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. I really wish the gallery would post some photos of the installation, because it is just impossible to convey the whallop it packs upon entering.

Hirst's new works are enormous and beautiful - at first glance they appear to be stained glass windows, brightly lit from behind. In reality, they are incredible labyrinths of butterflies - some whole, some in parts - arrayed in truly amazing symmetrical designs. The obvious inference of church windows, some a la Notre Dame's round rose windows, others with gothic-esque peaks, convey an almost memorial-like symbolism to the dead creatures.

I know some folks are really disturbed by the use of these deceased creatures, however beautiful they might be. I'd like to naively believe that Hirst didn't actually kill, or have killed, butterflies in the making of these works, but I don't know the truth, and I'd rather not know. Their beauty is so stunning, I'd like to just think of them as a beautiful post-mortem to the fleeting lives of these little critters.