Cinchonidine

About This Work

Damien Hirst’s *Cinchonidine* extends the artist’s enduring investigation into medicine, belief and the aesthetics of clinical display. Named after an alkaloid associated with quinine, the work frames pharmacology as both promise and ritual, situating contemporary culture’s dependence on chemical relief within a cool, controlled visual order. Executed with Hirst’s characteristic precision and a heightened attention to surface and finish, *Cinchonidine* balances seduction and detachment—inviting close looking while retaining the distance of the laboratory. The composition’s serial logic and immaculate presentation echo Minimalist restraint, yet its subject matter is distinctly human: mortality, anxiety and the commodification of care. As a contemporary artwork by Damien Hirst, it speaks powerfully to today’s medicalised imagination.

About the Artist

Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol and grew up in Leeds. In 1984 he moved to London, where he worked in construction before studying for a BA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths college from 1986 to 1989. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995. Since the late 1980’s, Hirst has used a varied practise of...

Zebra One Gallery

Contemporary Art • Hampstead, London

Established 1976 • 50 years of excellence in contemporary art • Professional authentication and provenance research