Honorary Kennington resident Damien Hirst has the very fortunate problem of having too much art on his hands. We at KR Towers can sympathise and have a very similar problem. Well, if you substitute ‘art’ with ‘chipped coffee mugs’. He’s allowed us to dip a toe into his voluminous collection and it is currently show at his very own Newport Street gallery in Vauxhall. We recently zipped along to check it out.

This tiny sample of Hirst’s vast collection gives the viewer an intriguing insight into his tastes and influences and includes works by Francis Bacon, Helen Frankenthaller, Andy Warhol, Sarah Lucas, and the man himself. His interest in shocking the viewer is evident in this grouping, but perhaps less so than in much of his personal body of work. Themes of death and despair are certainly evident, but so are whimsical motifs (his interest in Jeff Koons springs to mind). Be sure not to miss his barnacled Mickey Mouse upstairs. The collection spans genres and mediums and includes sculpture, oils, and even a door by William S. Borroughs.

In the midst of this collection are two rooms dedicated to the current work of artist John Squire. We didn’t really engage with this, but it is heavily influenced by music, motion, with multimedia aspects. And for the music nerds out there, this is the same John Squire who was the guitarist for the Stone Roses.

‘Reasons Give no Answers’ and ‘John Squire: Disinformation’ are on now and run until mid November. And totally free…..and we love that…..

Damien, if you are a KR enthusiast (and we reckon you are) feel free to drop us a line and we will return the favour by showing you selected works from our own collection.

Below:

‘Chipped coffee mug with PG Tips bag’                                                                                                   ………Ceramic and mixed media, 2019                                                                                                     ……….Collection of Kennington Runoff