Phleygas

Damien Hirst’s ‘Phlegyas’ (2016), a lenticular digital print, remarks in incredible detail his fascination
with natural history through his rendering of insects. Set in a circular frame against a dark backdrop,
the work is an excellent example of the artist’s celebrated series of ‘Entomology Paintings’.

In ‘Phlegyas’, insects like spiders, beetles and butterflies are carefully arranged in patterns akin to
those of his ‘Kaleidoscope’ works. Made after an original painting in which insects were inserted into
Hammerite gloss paint, the present lenticular print manages to maintain the sense of depth and
detail.

‘Phlegyas’, like all works from ‘Entomology Paintings’, takes its title from Dante Alighieri’s ‘The
Divine Comedy’, specifically the ferryman of the river Styx. Such references to the tortuous events of
the afterlife highlight the overriding theme of death. Nonetheless, ‘Phlegyas’ maintains a sense of
life with its vibrant colours conferring the print a sense of liveliness that sparks what Hirst calls a
‘universal trigger’. Speaking on his ‘Entomology Paintings’ series, Damien Hirst referred to them as
‘beautiful and horrific at the same time, you can’t help but be drawn into it, seduced by it, but you
want to run away from it’.