HENI Gallery - The Beautiful Paintings

HENI is delighted to present The Beautiful Paintings, the revolutionary new artwork from Damien Hirst that blurs the boundaries between digital and physical art creation using generative and machine learning algorithms.

Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable Discord Live Watch Party

Together with director Sam Hobkinson and producer Nicolas Kent, Hirst chronicles the eponymous exhibition’s extraordinary backstory; the discovery and excavation of an ancient shipwreck. This HAT is for anyone who attends the live watch party on Discord.

Invader - Rubikcubism Exhibition

HENI Editions is delighted to present 'Rubikcubism' by Invader. The drop features four colour-filled prints from Invader’s acclaimed series of artworks using Rubik’s Cubes. The artworks are on display in the HENI Gallery from the from 2 February until 12 February 2023. This HAT is available to anyone who attends the exhibition.

HENI Art Club | This is Tomorrow

The twentieth century was a time of seismic change in Britain. No one reflected and responded to those changes more vividly than artists. In this talk, based on his new book ‘This is Tomorrow’, Michael Bird illuminates a series of transformative moments through the lens of artists’ lives.

HENI Art Club | The Artist’s Studio

This digital token is issued exclusively to attendees of the HENI Art Club event ‘The Artist’s Studio’. Art critic and historian, James Hall, uncovers the fascinating history of the artist’s studio. From Ancient Greece to the present day, James reveals the myth and reality of these private creative spaces.

Love Lucian: The Letters of Lucian Freud 1939-1954

Martin Gayford, renowned art critic and co-author of the new smash-hit book Love Lucian, gave an exclusive talk for HENI Art Club members focused on the legendary artist Lucian Freud.

Paper Veils Exhibition

HENI is delighted to present Damien Hirst’s Paper Veils, a series of 300 striking oil paintings on card. All 300 Paper Veils are on display at the HENI Gallery in London.

The Currency In-Person Burn

Holders of The Currency NFT had the chance to attend the burning of the physical artwork corresponding to their Currency NFT at Newport Street Gallery.

Dot Connector

This exclusive HAT is for Connect the Dots partygoers who managed collect all four dots on their name badge. To collect the dots, partygoers have to meet and trade dots with each other.

Connect the Dots (Digital)

The Connect the Dots Party is a private gathering to celebrate The Currency and our incredible community. This HAT is for those who couldn't attend in person, but who joined us on Discord during the party.

Connect the Dots Party (IRL)

The Connect the Dots Party is a private gathering to celebrate The Currency and our incredible community.

The Currency Burn Event (Digital)

Damien Hirst will be burning the 1,000 artworks that he kept as NFTs at an event in Newport Street Gallery on 11th October 2022. A limited number of spots are available to attend the event in person, but everyone is welcome to join us on Instagram Live to watch the burn as it is streamed.

The Currency Burn Event (IRL)

Damien Hirst will be burning the 1,000 artworks that he kept as NFTs at an event in Newport Street Gallery on 11th October 2022. A limited number of spots are available to attend the event in person, but everyone is welcome to join us on Instagram Live to watch the burn.

Dr. Stephen Moonie: 'American Art in the 1960s

Art Historian Dr Stephen Moonie will take Michael Blackwood’s iconic 1972 film 'American Art in the 1960s' as a starting point to journey through this time of cultural revolution.

The Pharmacy HENI Community Room

The Pharmacy Cafe at Newport Street Gallery is open exclusively to the HENI community for the duration of The Currency Exhibition. Drinks and refreshments will be available. A large selection of HENI Publishing Books will be available for people to read through.

The Currency Exhibition

HENI and Newport Street Gallery are delighted to present The Currency Exhibition. All of the physical artworks from The Currency that collectors chose to keep in NFT form will be featured. These 4,851 artworks will be displayed, and then burnt, in the gallery.

The Currency Exhibition Preview

The community was invited to attend a private viewing of The Currency Exhibition the day before the official public opening. Owners of both the NFT and the physical artwork were able to apply.

Zaha Hadid: Architecture, Design and Related Arts

The Zaha Hadid Foundation welcomed HENI Art Club to their iconic space on Bowling Green Lane, Hadid’s former architectural office, for an exclusive talk about the legendary architect, designer and artist. Jane Pavitt, Head of Learning and Research at the Zaha Hadid Foundation, introduced attendees to the architect’s life, work and influences. Guests were also offered a personal tour of the Foundation’s inaugural exhibition, Zaha Hadid: Reimagining London, featuring rare and unseen works, among them personal sketchbooks, from the collections and archives of the Foundation.

The Artist as a Transgressive Witness to History

Dr Brad Evans, Professor of Political Violence & Aesthetics at the University of Bath, joined the HENI Art Club for a presentation and discussion, considering the importance of art in terms of providing a transgressive witnessing to history. Evans addressed some of the most influential names from art history, who have used their work as a means to explore and document significant events. The artists discussed include Goya and his infamous Disasters of War series, and Jake & Dinos Chapman’s later ‘rectification’ of these works, Francis Bacon, and Mark Rothko.

Chila Kumari Singh Burman – 24 May 2022

Iconic contemporary artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman joined the HENI Art Club in conversation at this digital event. There, she discussed her rich and varied career, spanning printmaking, painting, sculpture, film and multi-layered installations. Describing herself as a ‘Punjabi Liverpudlian’, Chila mashes up stereotypes to create new identities, beyond the limitations imposed on South Asian women in a British cultural context. Her work pushes the limits of creative experimentation while exploring themes of feminism, race and representation.

Collecting Masterclass: Prints and Multiples

The HENI Art Club held a collecting masterclass with James Baskerville, Head of Sale for 21st Century and Banksy Editions at Christie’s, providing expert industry insights into the world of prints and multiples. With a breadth of knowledge from Renaissance through to contemporary prints and a keen interest in contemporary printmaking, Baskerville discussed the different types of print, what makes a quality work, and gave some top tips on starting or building a collection.

Paul Greenhalgh: Ceramic Art and Civilisation

Internationally renowned historian of art, design and the decorative arts, and previous Head of Research at the V&A Museum in London, Paul Greenhalgh joined the HENI Art Club to give an interactive talk on the history of ceramics. Greenhalgh’s talk traced developments in ceramic art from Ancient Greece, through the Medieval Islamic world to the present day, delving further into topics raised in his book ‘Ceramic, Art & Civilisation’, which tells the story of ceramic art and its industry across centuries of global artistic developments.

"Full of Nervous Life": Rediscovering Keith Cunningham

A virtual HENI Art Club event, at which Dr Laura Spada introduced the life and work of the extraordinary Australian artist Keith Cunningham (1929-2014). Spada recounted Cunningham’s unusual story; a contemporary of Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff at the Royal College of Art in the mid-1950s, the artist achieved early success before making the extraordinary decision in 1967 to withdraw completely from the art world. On his death in 2014, at the age of 85, Cunningham had left behind a large collection of unseen works spanning over five decades. A concurrent show in Newport Street Gallery revealed the artworks left in Cunningham’s studio, which Spada’s talk explored further. The powerful paintings, whose strokes of dark pigments convey intensely expressive forms, provide a unique insight into the rich inner world of this forgotten artist.

Bacon in Moscow

To celebrate the publication of Bacon in Moscow, a memoir by James Birch, the HENI Art Club hosted an interview between the author, James Birch, and Rowan Pelling, journalist, broadcaster, writer and stand-up comedian. Bacon in Moscow is a funny, personal account of how Birch, as a young British curator in 1988, managed against all odds to mount a ground-breaking retrospective of Francis Bacon’s work at the newly refurbished Central House of Artists in Moscow. James and Rowan discussed the scandals, triumphs and lows faced throughout the book, making for a funny and insightful telling of this artistic adventure at a time of political upheaval.

James Fox: The World According to Colour

A HENI Art Club talk by Dr James Fox, the award-winning broadcaster, Cambridge art historian, author and curator, exploring the history and cultural significance of colour. His book on the topic, The World According to Colour: A Cultural History, was published in September 2021. By tracing the meanings of colours to humankind to show how they changed and multiplied, and the role that they have played in our culture and history, Fox’s work allows us to see many of the milestones in the history of art – from Bronze Age gold-work to Turner, Titian to Yves Klein – in a new way.

Gerhard Richter at The Hayward Gallery (Digital & Physical)

A conversation between Cliff Lauson, Senior Curator at the Hayward Gallery, and Eva Ruschkowski, HENI Senior art researcher, focusing on the life, work and drawing practice of Gerhard Richter. This HENI Art Club talk was centred around the Hayward Gallery’s exhibition, Gerhard Richter: Drawings, 1999-20. The exhibition, located in the HENI Project Space, marked the first presentation of work by Gerhard Richter in a major London gallery in a decade, bringing together more than 60 works on paper.

Sunshine Exhibition

On the eve of Frieze 2021, the Claridge’s ArtSpace opened with its inaugural exhibition: Damien Hirst’s Sunshine (Complex Relationships Explained Simply), presented by HENI. The works on display included a series of the artist’s pipe cleaner animals, and examples from his iconic colour chart series. For the exhibition, HENI accepted cryptocurrency as payment for artworks. It was also possible to purchase artworks in the exhibition using Tenders from The Currency, Hirst’s first NFT collection. Visitors to the exhibition received digital HENI Attendance Tokens (HATs), which were issued for the very first time.

Discord 1 Year Anniversary

On 14 July 2022, the HENI Discord server celebrated its first anniversary. As a gesture of thanks to the HENI community, who have helped make the server and our projects a source of friendship, support and creative inspiration for so many people, we designed a digital attendance token to celebrate the milestone.