Educating Damien (and Others)

Damien Hirst, once a working-class Leeds lad, is reported to be the world’s richest living artist, with some financial commentators estimating his net worth at £220 million. Whatever you think of his work, that’s pretty impressive by anyone’s standards. So it’s worth checking out some of what Hirst learnt while he was studying at Leeds’ Jacob Kramer College.

Glyn Thompson taught drawing and history of art at the college, and the now (in)famous Hirst was one of his students. Thompson’s lecture notes and 35mm slides from the 1983–84 foundation course are being shown with drawings from that year by other students who studied alongside Hirst. Potentially a fascinating insight into one of the formative influences in this phenomenal artist’s development.