According to documents filed with the UK government, a Jersey-based company owned by artist Damien Hirst was awarded 1.31 million pounds ($1.77 million) in furlough payments in 2020, the same year it laid off dozens of workers.
This company, Science (UK), is used by Hirst to manufacture his art, which has taken the form of multi-million dollar auction ready-made objects, abstract paintings, and giant sculptures meant to summon antique treasures. last year , art newspaper I mentioned that the company He owns 42.7 million pounds in art.
at Documents Submitted to the British government’s Companies House, Science (UK) had 156 employees listed at the end of 2020. However, during the same year, it laid off 63 workers in a process known in the UK as layoffs.
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A representative of the Gagosian Gallery, who represents Hirst, did not respond to a request for comment.
The goal of the government-run furlough program was to prevent companies financially affected by the pandemic from laying off employees. Workers who spoke to art newspaper In his 2021 report, he said the money Science (UK) received was aimed at supporting them during the lockdown so they could safely return to the studio for jobs that couldn’t be done remotely.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant operational and financial pressures on the group and the art market in general,” Companies House Audit notes.
Separately from Science (UK), Hirst himself is reported to have Claimed 15 million pounds in Covid emergency funding in 2020. He was said to be owed more than £100m to Science (UK) at the time.
Even before the pandemic, Science (UK) was downsizing its operations. In 2018, he laid off 50 workers as part of a larger effort by Hearst to “Focus on his art‘ He said. At about the same time, he bought a new studio in the Soho area of London at a cost of £40 million.
The pandemic forced Hearst to rethink his work again. Before Covid, he was scheduled to have a major retrospective at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, but that show was canceled once the lockdown began.
Since 2020, Hearst has maintained a schedule of the exhibition. For the exhibition currently on display at Gagosian in New York, Hearst is displaying paintings and abstract works from the Incredible Wreckage Treasures series, including sculptures of Disney characters made to look like they were brought from the depths of the ocean. All works in this gallery are from 2020 or earlier. He also has a show of readymade which propelled him to fame at the Gagosian location in London.
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