Damien Hirst

In Damien Hirst’s ‘Butterfly Heart (Small)’ he combines the rainbow, a symbol of support for the NHS in Britain throughout the pandemic, with butterflies, one of Hirst’s best‐known motifs.  

One of four prints from Hirst’s ‘Rainbow Editions’ (H7, 2020), this artwork is digitally composed of photographed butterfly wings assembled on a heart-shaped aluminium composite panel into bands of colour, their puzzle‐like compositions recollective of his ‘Kaleidoscope Paintings’ (begun in 2001). Ranging from the yellow wings that nearly fade into the background to the bold blue wings rendered with practically scientific detail, Hirst’s perennial love for butterflies and attention to their multitudinous forms is distinctly present. 

‘Butterfly Heart (Small)’, produced in support of The Felix Project during the COVID-19 response effort, evokes memories of the cheerful rainbows and hearts displayed in windows and chalk drawn on streets across Britain at the time. In fusing this imagery with his iconic butterfly motif, Hirst’s ‘Butterfly Heart (Small)’ emerges as an undeniable symbol for hope.   

Butterfly Heart (Small)

Rainbow Editions

In the spring of 2020 at a time of great fear, isolation and devastation, Damien Hirst released ‘Rainbow Editions’ (H7), a hopeful series of rainbow butterfly prints. A charity fundraiser in support of the COVID-19 response effort, ‘Rainbow Editions’ fuses Hirst’s iconic butterfly motif with the rainbow, what became in Britain a symbol for peace, support of the NHS and collective strength. 