Weird Tales From The Embalmed Art World

James Panero’s post on the New Criterion’s Armavirumque blog brings new meaning to the phrase “Culture of Death“:

The other day I remarked on hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen’s loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art–“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” Damien Hirst’s work featuring a dead shark floating in a formaldehyde vitrine. Rumor has it that MoMA and the Met both went fishing for the shark. Now the Met will have the honor of bestowing unearned respectability on Cohen’s costly purchase ($8 million from Charles Saatchi in 2004).

By the way, if you want to know the disgusting details about how this work is maintained, read Carol Vogel’s story here. (the answer is injections of formaldehyde.) What is not explained in this article, of course, is how Vogel maintains her job as a critic after REPEATEDLY shilling for Hirst and his rich collectors (the answer is injections of formaldehyde). [Ouch!–Ed]

Now in other news, we learn that Damien Hirst has recently wrapped up his latest exhibition at White Cube Gallery in London. This was the show featuring Hirst

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