Love is All You Need

Emblematic as they are of both the ephemerality of life and the romance of death, butterflies have long been considered one of Damien Hirst’s acclaimed hallmarks, symbolising the diverse concepts of freedom, beauty, life and death. Among his most serene compositions from the series is the much sought after editioned screenprint ‘Love is All You Need’ from 2015.

In the present work, variously coloured and sized images of butterflies are apparently suspended in celebration against a white heart background. This shaped background contains the butterflies while simultaneously alluding to the freedom and graceful movement that their likenesses recall. While the butterflies of ‘Love is All You Need’ are not real, the stark contrast between their brilliantly coloured wings and the white background as well as the various directions that the butterflies turn nonetheless eloquently imply a former life.

Featuring motifs that have followed Hirst throughout his career, ‘Love is All You Need’ embodies concerns that remain central to the artist’s practice to this day, namely the persistence of love and happiness in the face of death.