I was given a paperback copy of On the Origin of Species many years ago by a friend and I loved it, especially the contentious aspects of it. Being brought up a Catholic and questioning the nonsensical creation theory, it was exciting.
At the time I was in the habit of visiting the Leeds City Museum, which displayed stuffed animals accompanied by labels explaining their origins. I also used to attend the World Wildlife Fund lectures on a Saturday afternoon.
So it was an honour to be asked to create a cover for this 150th anniversary edition of On the Origin of Species. This particular painting is called "Human skull in space" (oil on canvas), and, as in a lot of my work, there's a nod to the scientific.
The painting sits firmly in the tradition of "still life" and is made up of objects I've come to imbue with my own meanings, some of them Darwinian in origin, and that I guess are seen in other areas of my work. The painting has an X-ray-like quality to it, as if it is revealing something about the structure of the objects painted.
I suppose the work, in a modest way, acknowledges Darwin's analytical mind and his courage to believe in those ideas that questioned the very fabric of existence and belief in his time.
Copyright: Damien Hirst 2009
The anniversary edition of On the Origin of Species is published in hardback by Penguin Classics on 12 February (Darwin's birthday)
