Name: Till Death Do Us Part (heaven lemon yellow pigment, pink, chilli red)
Brand: Damien Hirst
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Meaning & Analysis

Till Death Do Us Part (heaven lemon yellow pigment, pink, chilli red) is a screen print from Damien Hirst’s 2012 Till Death Do Us Part series. This is a vibrant print showing an image of a human skull, facing outwards to the view, rendered in two tones of pink and set against a vivid yellow backdrop. The image of the skull is taken from a photograph and flattened, and Hirst’s signature can be seen on the bottom right corner of the composition.

The motif of the skull has been a constant throughout Hirst’s career. This series repeats the same image of the skull across the entire portfolio, rendered in saturated colours. With this motif, Hirst calls into question our assumptions between the boundaries of life and death. The motif also draws on the traditional subject from art history of the ‘momento mori’ still life. Translating in English to ‘remember that you will die,’ it was a common theme in 17th century still life painting, and Hirst transforms this subject for its 21st century context.

Till Death Do Us Part (heaven lemon yellow pigment, pink, chilli red) recalls the work of Pop artist Andy Warhol in both subject matter and style. Before Hirst, Warhol was similarly preoccupied with the iconography of death, depicting skulls in many variations in the latter stage of his career. Also like Warhol, Hirst repeats a single image across an entire series, each print showing a variation on the original image through the manipulation of colour.