st. sebastian, exquisite pain

Today, for my flex day adventure, I traveled to MCA Denver -- a modern art museum. 

I'll be honest: I have a hard time appreciating art that is typically featured at these kinds of museums. Well, I suppose I appreciate the idea, but I have a hard time considering some of it art. For this very reason, I thought I'd challenge myself and view the art of one of the most controversial emergent artists in the world today -- Damien Hirst.

I heard about Hirst's work about a year or so ago, when my manager, who is from NYC, shared that she was planning to visit his exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on her visit home. At that time, his piece "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living," which was actually a shark incased in formaldehyde. Of course, I was intrigued, and had already heard about his piece, "For the Love of God," so when I learned that he had an exhibit on display in Denver, I had to go.

At MCA Denver, there are four Hirst pieces: two involving butterflies, a cabinet full of medication, and a cow incased in formaldehyde. The cow is a little different than the shark, in that the animal is tied to a post and is pierced with multiple arrows. Creepy, yes. It was the cow that interested me most. The title is "St. Sebastian, Exquisite Pain." History tells us that the real St. Sebastian, a martyr was killed by arrows. Interestingly, the cow is positioned similarly to that of St. Sebastian in many renaissance paintings. 

Hirst's positioning of the cow, the way he is strapped to the post, and the artist's choice to leave one eye slightly opened truly drew me in, evoking an unexpected deep sadness as I stared at the animal. He looked so helpless, his one eye seemingly pleading with me to end his pain. The cow's head is tilted to the side, lying close to his shoulder--evidence that he can no longer stand to look at his oppressor, and an echo of many renaissance pieces depicting a crucifixion or other cruel death, in which the martyr is upright.

My thoughts were interrupted by a family of three--a mother, father, and 4-year-old boy--who wandered into the room. As soon as they entered, the father laughed, and I was once again reminded that this piece of art can be interpreted by many simply as a silly cow in a big tank. I'll admit that I had similar feelings before seeing it up close and discovering that it actually evoked an emotional response.

So, my conclusion: Though Hirst's work is certainly controversial and rides on the edge of "art" and, well, I don't know . . . I do believe it can be considered artwork. The positioning of the cow, the arrows, his eyes, etc., were used the same way a painter uses his brush to position colors on a canvas. This canvas just happens to be a cow and a tank of formaldehyde.