Damien Hirst is one of the most prominent artists to have emerged from the British art scene in the 1990s. Hirst first came to public attention in London in 1988 when he conceived and curated Freeze, an exhibition of his own work and that of his friends and fellow Goldsmiths College students, staged in an unused London warehouse. In the nearly quarter of a century since that pivotal show, Hirst has become one of the most influential artists of his generation. Hirst's exploration of imagery is notable for its strong associations to life and death, and to belief and value systems.

In April 2012, Hirst had a retrospective survey of his work at the Tate Britain.