Museo Jumex to Host Damien Hirst’s first Museum Exhibition in Mexico

Museo Jumex announces ‘To Live Forever (For A While)‘, a museum-wide exhibition celebrating the work of influential British artist Damien Hirst. Timed to launch as a highlight of the Museo Jumex’s 10th anniversary, ‘To Live Forever (For A While)‘ will be Damien Hirst’s first exhibition presented by a museum in Mexico, and will run from March 23rd o August 25th, 2024.

Curated in close collaboration with Damien Hirst and leading curator Ann Gallagher, the exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of the artist’s work between 1986 and 2019, featuring around 60 works including installations, sculptures, and paintings. It features some of Hirst’s most iconic series including Natural History, Spin Paintings, Medicine Cabinets, Cherry Blossoms, and spot and butterfly paintings.

Damien Hirst: “I am excited to be presenting my first museum show in Mexico, in fact my first mu- seum show in Latin America, at Museo Jumex next year. Mexico has always been an inspiration for me, a second home. I love the incredible culture here–the Day of the Dead and the butterflies in Michoacán. A lot of people say my work is about death when it’s not, it’s about life, and death is simply a part of life. And my mother always taught me to try and confront the things in life that you can’t avoid. The show includes some of my best-known series of works and will also include some pieces that are rarely seen and which I hope will be exciting for visitors to the museum, old and young.” 

Eugenio López, president of Fundación Jumex: “We have been working in collaboration with Damien Hirst for more than two years to create an inspiring exhibition that will allow our public step into the extraordinary world of one of the most significant artists of the moment and within the history of art. I am immensely proud to present this exhibition in Mexico.” 

Hirst first came to public attention in London in 1988 when he conceived and curated the group exhibition Freeze during his second year at Goldsmiths, the University of London art school. He quickly became a major figure in the international art world in 1991 with his work The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a fourteen-foot-long tiger shark preserved in a tank of formaldehyde. Hirst has remained a significant presence on the contemporary art scene, influencing gener- ations of artists. His willingness to tackle challenging and thought-provoking themes has pushed the boundaries of what art can be. Hirst’s provocative art has been widely collected and exhibited around the world. In 1995, he won Tate Britain’s Turner Prize, Great Britain’s premier award for contemporary art.

Damien Hirst (b. 1965) was born in Bristol, England, and lives and works in London, Devon, and Gloucestershire, England. Collections include the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, Italy; Museum Brandhorst, Munich; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid; Tate, London; Israel Museum, Je rusalem; Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo; Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Scotland; National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Art Institute of Chicago; The Broad, Los Angeles; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; and 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan. Exhibitions include Cornucopia, Oceanographic Museum of Monaco (2010); Tate Modern, London (2012); Relics, Qatar Museums Authority, Al Riwaq (2013); Signification (Hope, Immortality and Death in Paris, Now and Then), Deyrolle, Paris (2014); Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2015); The Last Supper, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (2016); Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, Venice (2017); Damien Hirst at Houghton Hall: Colour Space Paintings and Outdoor Sculptures, Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England (2019); Mental Escapology, St. Moritz, Switzerland (2021); Cherry Blossoms, Fondation Cartier, Paris (2021); and Archaeology Now, Galleria Borghese, Rome (2021). Hirst received the Turner Prize in 1995.

Museo Jumex, Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo’s main platform, opened its doors to the public in November 2013 as an institution devoted to contemporary art. Its aim is not only to serve a broad and diverse public, but also to be a laboratory for experimentation and innovation in the arts. Through its exhibitions, publications, re- search, and public programs, Museo Jumex familiarizes audiences with the concepts and contexts that inform current art practice. Through the use of critical and peda- gogical tools, the museum’s educational programs further the institution’s commit- ment to build links between contemporary art and the public.

Damien Hirst ‘To Live Forever (For A While)‘ will be on view at Museo Jumex in Mexico from March 23rd to August 25th, 2024: https://www.fundacionjumex.org/en